IIHF News - New Zealandhttp://www.iihf.com/
IIHF News from www.iifh.comenIIHF News - New Zealandhttp://www.iihf.com/typo3conf/ext/tt_news/ext_icon.gifhttp://www.iihf.com/
1816IIHF News from www.iifh.comTYPO3 - get.content.righthttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssWed, 13 Dec 2017 16:30:00 +0100Smiles Down Underhttp://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=12039
Queenstown female recruits having fun“We may not recruit all the players into league teams but if by word of mouth we let people know that ice hockey is a fun sport then we have done our job,” the general secretary of the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation, Jonathan Albright, said.

“It went well tonight. It was a lot of fun. The girls were pretty tired at the end but there were a lot of smiles on their faces. They loved it and really enjoyed the night and are keen to continue.”

Fifteen women attended the event at the Queenstown Ice Arena and they were aged between 15 and 35.

Albright was impressed by the potential of the new players.

“They are natural athletes,” he said. “They didn’t have much equipment and fell over quite a bit. But they got straight up and kept on going.

“A couple of the mums had kids running around who play for the Junior Stampede and local teams. It gave the women an opportunity to try the game that their kids are playing.

“It was great to see the players give it a go and put on a helmet, hockey gloves and handle the stick. I have coached the national team and it was great to see grass roots hockey again.”

Most of the women had never been on skates before.

“We were really starting from scratch,” Albright said. “They were so afraid when they hopped on the ice but by the end of the day they were totally independent and running around the ice claiming it as their game.”

Albright said that the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation embraces the concept of a World Girls’ Ice Hockey Weekend. He admitted that the timing was not ideal for New Zealand because it comes at the end of the New Zealand season.

“But we understand that it is the start of the Northern Hemisphere season and the IIHF is spearheading the event and have based it on their season” Albright said. “It is ‘Catch 22’ for us but we have to live with it.”

The Queenstown weekend was part of a world-wide weekend and this was emphasised to the girls before the start.

“We had a team meeting at centre ice before we got into the training and told the girls that this was a world-wide event and took a team photo,” Albright said.

“The concept was a bit alarming for some of the girls at the start but they settled into the training and in the team photo they were grinning from ear to ear.

“The World Girls’ Ice Hockey Weekend is great for women's hockey,” he said. “Women’s hockey doesn’t get enough exposure on the home front and this is great for it.’’

The statistics prove that the day has increased the number of females playing ice hockey.

“The men’s level has been quite stagnant in recent years but the women’s numbers are growing,” Albright said. “This weekend, combined with the New Zealand under-18 women’s development team that participates in IIHF tournaments, is raising the numbers.”

Albright was not able to confirm that the recent Trans-Tasman clash between the men’s national teams from Australia and New Zealand had increased interest in the women’s hockey day.

“But we did have a guest coach in experienced Ice Black Paris Heyd from Dunedin and all the girls seemed to know him,” Albright said.

The coaching team on the day was led by the head coach of the national women’s team, Andreas Kaisser, who stepped down from his national league job with the Botany Swarm after 13 years.

Also on the ice to highlight another facet of the game was registered referee Barrett Wilson of Dunedin.

The session at Queenstown lasted 90 minutes with the first 20 minutes concentrating on learning to skate.

“We did skating waves back and forth to get balance, posture and the feel of the edges of the skates,” Albright explained.

The next period was spent getting the feel of the puck on the stick and the feeling of the stick handle.

“That lasted 20 minutes we then started playing games like ‘Ring Around the Rosie’’ and shooting the puck.

“For the last 45 minutes of the session we cut the ice in half, divided the group into two teams and let them have fun.”

The organising committee want to provide a pathway for the girls and make sure none of the players are lost through the cracks.

“We got all their contacts and will pass the details on to the Southern women’s team so they can tell the girls when and where the training is happening and hopefully keep them in the sport,” Albright said. “They will get in touch with the girls before the start of next season.”

Four of the novices returned to the Queenstown Ice Arena on Sunday night to join in an organised game played by 18 female players and two female goalies. The game was controlled by two female referees.

“This is the first year that we have ever done this so we have no previous years to compare against,” event organiser Heidi Gillingham said.

“It was great to see some new skaters on the ice and have a last bit of fun before the season ends,” Gillingham said. “Hopefully we will see them back next year at practices, drop in games and maybe even in the social league.”

The fun theme for the girls’ weekend was continued in the game and comments from the new recruits reflect this.

“It was so much fun,” one of the new recruits said. “I loved it!”

“Can I play next year?”

One of the old hands playing in the game was impressed by the skills of the new recruits.

“It’s so nice seeing new skaters on the ice and getting more women involved in the game. Hopefully they’ll still be keen next season.”

Gillingham believes that the success of Southern Stampede in winning three national league titles in the last three years has boosted an awareness of ice hockey in the resort town.

Holding the Trans-Tasman series against Australia in Queenstown during the New Zealand Winter Games has also lifted the profile of the sport.

“It’s been great to watch some world-class hockey in Queenstown and cheer the local boys on to victory again,” Gillingham said.

“It’s definitely raised awareness in the region and the profile of hockey in the town and brought in some new fans and tourists who may not have seen live hockey before.

“Hopefully it continues next season with even more and better show cases.”

The next big ice hockey event in Queenstown will be the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship Division III Group B next April. It will be the first time an Ice Hockey World Championship event has been held in the resort town.

ALISTAIR MCMURRAN]]>on leftWorldsWomenNew Zealandon rightSun, 08 Oct 2017 14:24:00 +0200The Mighty Rooshttp://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=12002
Australia wins Trans-Tasman Challenge in SONew Zealand surprised Australia by winning the first test 4-1 at the Queenstown Ice Arena. But Australia squared the series with a 2-0 win in the second test.

The final test was a thriller. The scores were level at 3-all after regulation time and remained unchanged after five minutes of overtime.

The game and the series was decided on a penalty shot shootout that Australia won 2-0 to win the game 5-3. Brendan McDowell and captain Thomas Powell scored for Australia.

New Zealand goalie Aston Brookes must have nightmares every time he faces a shootout because he also came out on the wrong side when the Red Devils beat the Southern Stampede in the final of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League at the same venue in 2012.

But it was an encouraging performance by the Ice Blacks because Australia plays in a grade above them in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship program and are ranked 33rd in the world and New Zealand 38th. A capacity crowd filled the arena and supported New Zealand in all three games.

The first win was only the second time that New Zealand has beaten Australia at ice hockey in 19 games between the two countries.

In the final game Australia had the upper hand when it led against New Zealand 2-1 after the second period.

New Zealand had opportunities to dominate the game in the first two periods through a series of power plays. But the Australian defence was bullet proof under pressure and shut New Zealand out.

Goalie Charles Smart was having a superb game and was backed by defenders James Woodman, Per Daniel Goransson and the Ice Blacks attackers were shut out.

It sapped the confidence of the Ice Blacks, especially when they had a two-man advantage on the ice on two occasions.

The game changed in the first five minutes of the third period when Alexander Polozov and Nicholas Henderson scored goals and the Ice Blacks led 3-2.

Australian head coach Brad Vigon knew that the Ice Blacks would be competitive and the series would be close.

The Mighty Roos only brought 17 players to Queenstown and it would be a tough assignment against a fired up Ice Blacks team that was desperate for another win against their big brothers across the Tasman Sea.

New Zealand played its first ice hockey game against Australia at the 1987 IIHF World Championship D-Pool in Perth when they were thrashed 58-0, which was a world record score at that time.

That game still grates with New Zealand hockey stalwarts who relished the 5-4 win at the New Zealand Winter Games at Dunedin in 2009 and wanted more.

The 4-1 win in the first game at Queenstown meant a lot to the New Zealand fans and they pinned their hopes on a series win.

But Vigon had other ideas. “We knew they were going to come out hard on their home ice and they made us pay for a few basic errors,” he said.

Australia tightened its defence and made it more difficult for the Ice Blacks to reach the net in the final two tests.

“We focused on a few key things and I was happy with our speed and intensity,” Vigon said.

Ice hockey was an important part of the first two New Zealand Winter Games in 2009 and 2011 and attracted the largest crowds for any of the snow and ice sports.

But the timing clashed with the final rounds of the Australian Ice Hockey League and some of the top Australian players were not available.

The scheduling was better this year as the test series came a week after the finals of the Australian league.

“We enjoyed being part of this series as we know that it greatly benefits both countries and adds more history to the fierce sporting rivalry between us,” Vigon said.

“We believe that the timing is perfect as both countries prepare for their 2018 World Championship events.

“It gives our coaching staff a chance to have a good look at some of the young and new players competing for spots on next year’s World Championship team.”

Australia had five rookies in its team and New Zealand six for the three-game series.

Two of the Australians who helped their chances were Swedish-born defender Per Daniel Goransson (31) and goalie Nicholas Novysedlak (22), who were both playing in their first senior internationals for the Mighty Roos.

Goransson played his hockey in Europe until 2009 and then had a gap until he emigrated to Australia and played for the Northern Vikings in Perth in 2014. He has been a member of the Perth Thunder league team for the last two years and now has permanent Australian residency.

Novysedlak was born in Queensland and in 2009, at the age of 15, became the youngest goalie to play in the AIHL. He has played for the Australian under-18 and under-20 teams at World Championships. He played a key role in Australia's second test 2-0 win when he saved all 33 shots and did not concede any goals and was named MVP for the game.

Paris Heyd was aged 19 and was the new boy off the block for New Zealand when he scored the winning goal to give New Zealand its first win against Australia at Dunedin in 2009.

It was the second game of the New Zealand Winter Games and was a shock upset because Australia had outclassed the Ice Blacks 8-2 the previous night.

Heyd’s goal came with 4:30 left and gave New Zealand the win 5-4. He had scored his first international goal the previous night.

“It was a very special time. It was a great time. I was still pretty young then and new to the team,” Heyd recalled.

“It was a good start to my international career. It couldn't have gone much better. If you get the chance to get a win like that you take it. It doesn’t come along that often.”

The three-game Trans-Tasman Challenge in Queenstown was the fourth time that Ice Blacks had played Australia at home.

“We had quite a large squad and had the depth,” Heyd said. “We had a young team and were fit after coming off our league season.”

Heyd is the home-grown super-star of New Zealand ice hockey and is recognized internationally for his speed and skill on skates.

He scored the decisive goal in the second period when New Zealand beat Australia 4-1 in the first test.

Heyd recognizes the influence of imports and how they have improved the standard of New Zealand ice hockey. Three of them have double citizenship and qualified to play against Australia.

Captain Bert Haines comes from Canada and first played for the Ice Blacks in 2010 and this was his first win against Australia.

“It’s an amazing honour to captain the Ice Blacks against Australia,” he said.

“It’s a plus mark for New Zealand hockey to beat Australia because we are a step behind them in terms of our development. To win a test against a team ranked above us was extra-special.”

Haines lives at Queenstown and likes playing on one of the smallest rinks in New Zealand. Canberra is the only venue in Australia that has a similar size rink.

“It’s a tight arena and you feel the crowd all around you and as the home team you feed off that,” he said.

“A good percentage of our team grew up playing on smaller rinks. It makes the game a bit tighter. We have a skilled team but also a team used to playing a physical game. The small rink helped us.”

New Zealand was buoyed by the silver medal it won behind China at the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group B in Auckland in April and the New Zealand Winter Games has consolidated the gains.

This has pleased Haines: “Our game continues to evolve and continues to improve each year. We are on an upswing and heading in the right direction.”

The other key naturalized players in the Ice Blacks squad at the New Zealand Winter Games were Matt Schneider from Canada and former Estonian national team player Alexander Polozov, who has been living in New Zealand for seven years.

This was the first time that Schneider (32) has played for the Ice Blacks and he added experience to the New Zealand team.

He was drafted for the Calgary Flames and went to two camps but did not crack the roster and that ended his dream of playing in the NHL.

He came to New Zealand in 2012 and was working in a winery when a friend at the hostel told him about New Zealand ice hockey.

“I came down to Queenstown, contacted the Southern Stampede team, enjoyed my first season and decided to stick around.”

Polozov (31) represented Estonia at six IIHF events with junior and the men’s national team 2003 to 2008 and played professional hockey in Europe before relocating to New Zealand.

He has played in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League for the Botany Swarm and the Red Devils since then and made his debut for the Ice Blacks at this year’s World Championship tournament in Auckland.

Game 1

Polozov justified his New Zealand citizenship when he scored two goals to give the Ice Blacks only their second win against their Trans-Tasman rivals, the Mighty Roos.

The sell-out partisan crowd at the Queenstown Ice Arena erupted with joy because they recognized the significance of the 4-1 win at the New Zealand Winter Games.

It was only the second time in 17 games over 30 years that the Ice Blacks had beaten Australia at ice hockey.

Polozov’s goal went into the net less than two minutes from the end of the first period and gave the Ice Blacks belief as they went into the first break at the end of the first period leading 2-0.

His second goal in the middle of the third period gave the Ice Blacks a three-goal cushion and the determination to hold on to this advantage.

This is Polozov's first year with the Ice Blacks and the second goal was engineered by Schneider, who was playing his first game in the New Zealand jersey.

Schneider forced an Australian error when he pressured the puck carrier and was on hand with the assist.

It was the brilliance of experienced international Paris Heyd with a breakaway down the centre with only the goalie to beat that allowed the Ice Blacks to consolidate its position in the second period.

Heyd, the best home-grown Kiwi, does not miss goals when one-on-one with the keeper.

It was Heyd, who made the first Ice Blacks goal with a well-directed pass to Perth Thunder player Andrew Cox that he put into the net during a power play at 12:45 in the first period.

Australia’s only goal came toward the end of the second period when Brendan McDowell netted with a quick wrist shot. He was assisted by Mitch Humphries and Tommy Powell.

The Ice Blacks win was built around a solid defence with experienced goalie Rick Parry having an outstanding game. He faced 36 shots at goal and saved 35. Parry was backed by defencemen Bert Haines and Blake Jackson. Australian goalie Charles Smart conceded four goals from 18 shots.

Game 2:

Two rookies to international hockey played a key role in helping the Mighty Roos square the series when Australia beat New Zealand 2-0 in the second game.

Goransson netted the decisive goal from a power play midway through the first period to give Australia a 1-0 lead that it held to the end.

Captain Thomas Powell added the bonus goal in the last five seconds when a desperate Ice Blacks team pulled their goalie.

The Australian game was built round a tight defence that blocked all New Zealand attempts to put the puck into the net.

Australia owned their defensive zone and were not going to allow the Ice Black forwards to penetrate the defensive ring. Goransson was part of this and was backed by assistant captain Matthew Lindsay, Robert Haselhurst and Jack Carpenter.

But the player who best epitomized the Australian defensive effort was goalie Novysedlak, who was playing his first senior international for the Mighty Roos.

He was a rock-like barrier and stopped all 33 shots that the Ice Black attackers flung at him. He was like a contortionist in his movements and made several miracle saves.

He repulsed the many shots that star New Zealand forward Paris Heyd hit at the goal and probably his best save came midway through the second period when he pushed out his toe to stop a shot by Connor Harrison that looked like a certain goal.

His most difficult time came during a power play in the middle of the second period when the Ice Blacks forwards looked slick and were peppering the goal.

The Australian defence buttoned down the hatches after this and the New Zealand attack became disjointed when the players tired in the third period.

Powell, and Michael Humphries were the best Australian forwards.

Heyd was the best New Zealand forward and made frequent forays into the Australian danger zone. He made several bursts down the centre that should have resulted in goals. But he was too quick for the backup players and rebounds from the goalie went begging. He gained a few turnovers.

Goalie Daniel Lee, in his first senior international, let in only one goal and made 29 saves.

ALISTAIR MCMURRAN]]>on topWorldsMenAustraliaNew Zealandon lefton rightMon, 11 Sep 2017 10:54:00 +0200A record nighthttp://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=11987
Southern Stampede win 5th New Zealand titleIt was the third successive win for the Stampede in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League when it beat the West Auckland Admirals 5-2 in a closely contested and physical second final at the Queenstown Ice Arena.

The Stampede beat a determined West Auckland Admirals 5-3 in the first final at Auckland and it was buoyed by home town fans to become the first team in the league to win five titles.

The New Zealand league started in 2005 and the Stampede moved ahead of the Botany Swarm and the Canterbury Red Devils that have both won four titles.

It was the third time the Admirals had reached the final after filling the same spot in 2005 and 2010.

It was a bruising and physical second final with both teams putting their bodies on the line. 26 penalties were awarded – 10 against the Stampede and 16 against the Admirals. The defence of both teams was strong and only two goals came during power plays.

Veteran Braden Lee was knocked to the ice and was assisted from the rink three minutes from the end.

The Stampede started aggressively and Colin McIntosh scored the first goal after just four minutes and Mitchell Frear pushed a loose puck into the net three minutes later to give the Stampede a 2-0 lead at the first break.

Captain Matt Schneider led by example and rammed home the Stampede’s advantage with two more goals in the second period.

The standout forward in the game was new Canadian import Colin McIntosh, who prepared Schneider’s second goal with a brilliant solo run down the right flank to give the Stampede a 4-0 cushion after the second period.

The Admirals were down but not out and came back into the picture when Hungarian import Adrian Toth scored in the first 40 seconds of the third period.

But it was too little and too late. Both teams traded goals in the last six minutes of the game.

The Stampede had a tight defence with Hayden Argyle, Bert Haines and Stephan Helmersson disrupting the talented Admirals forwards.

The team owned the win to the brilliance of goalie Aston Brookes, who played the game of his life as he stood up to some powerful shots by the Admirals forwards and brought off four top-draw saves. He conceded two goals from 27 shots.

The win was special for Bert Haines and Braden Lee, who have been key members of the Stampede team since the start of the league and have won a record five titles.

Defender Hayden Argyle, who joined Stampede last year after winning three titles with the Red Devils, also won his fifth league title.

It was a special for Haines and Lee, who remained loyal to the Stampede and waited nine years to win their third title in 2015.

“It was incredibly special for me,” Haines (36) said. “I never stopped believing. That’s why I keep showing up every day. There was quite a gap between the second and third championships but we always had the intention of winning again and the belief that we could do it.

“We have the right team now and are doing the right things to keep up the culture of winning.”

What is special about the Stampede?

“We are a total ice hockey community and have the backing of the whole town,” Haines said. “We have a family culture. It just feels good to be in the room with the other guys.”

Captain Matt Schneider (32) came to New Zealand in 2012 and the three Birgel Cup wins have been the highlight of his ice hockey career.

“We put together a team that could win again but it wasn’t easy,” he said. “But it was a lot better playing games that were close and competitive.”

The loss of Jade Portwood, who topped the league goal scoring with 25 goals last year, was a big blow at the start of the season.

“It left a hole and others had to chip in and make up the goal scoring,” Schneider said.

Schneider and McIntosh filled the breach to keep the Stampede on top.

McIntosh was the top goal scorer in this year’s league with 24 goals and Schneider was runner-up with 22 goals.

But the win rested on a strong defence that was the foundation of Stampede’s tactics.

“It’s such a short season and it’s tough to build systems and consistency,” Schneider said. “But there have not been many changes in our squad and we built on what we achieved in previous years.”

It meant a lot to the Stampede to win the third successive title.

“It was our goal from the start and anything less would have been disappointing,” Schneider said.

What has been the secret of the Stampede’s success?

“We have a family atmosphere and are very close off the ice,” Schneider said. “We have maintained a core of players over the last few years and hang out together outside the rink.

“All summer long we are always together and this camaraderie lets us go on to the ice and play for each other.”

For coach Adam Blanchette it was his third title in a row and gives him the credentials to become a future coach of the Ice Blacks.

“I’ve been fortunate to have a good team around me,” Blanchette said. “It makes the coaches job easier when you have the right guys on and off the ice. That's very important for developing a winning culture.”

Blanchette admits that it is important to recruit the right import players to win the New Zealand league. The Southern Stampede have been lucky to have overseas players who enjoy living in Queenstown and keep coming back. Some gain residency and a few become New Zealand citizens. Blanchette grew up in the United States and has the overseas contacts to recruit the best players.

Among these stalwarts are Ice Blacks captain Bert Haines, who has lived in Queenstown since the start of the national league, Stampede captain Schneider and Mike McRae. They have been key players for the Stampede in this year’s league.

Schneider was ranked fourth with 37 points on the scoring leaders table with 22 goals and 15 assists. He was the second-best goal scorer in the league.

McRae was seventh on the scoring leaders table with 26 points and ranked fourth with 22 assists. Haines used his vast experience at critical times and was a solid defender.

“It is not always about finding the best guy on paper but about finding the best fit for your team,” Blanchette said. “As a coach you have to do your best to research the right players.”

Blanchette believes that the import players have done an important job in lifting the standards of the New Zealand born players. He quoted the example of Callum Burns, who was a novice Queenstown player when he joined the Stampede squad.

“The imports help develop the local players,” Blanchette said. “When Callum first came into the squad he was barely scratching the line-up.

“We have given him the right type of knowledge and he’s grown on and off the ice and has played for the Ice Blacks.”

Blanchette makes it clear that he always wants to win but realizes that the best chance of achieving this goal is by making sure that the squad has fun when they are together.

“When you have a fun side in the team culture it makes it easier for the guys to buy in and have the motivation to get better,” he said.

An important key to the Stampede’s success over the last three years been the development of depth within the squad.

“It’s the first time I've seen teams in this league with four playable lines,” Blanchette said.

“Most teams have very good two lines but we’ve developed a nice mix of youth and experience and have had success with our third and fourth lines.”

The coach admits that he has developed a squad around the ability to play well in the small Queenstown rink.

“We are definitely a small ice team,” Blanchette said. “We like to be in the face of our opponents and take the game to them.”

It is the hard, physical North American style that Blanchette is used to.

“Most of our imports are from North America and have grown up with this style and we have had success with it,” he said.

Blanchette watches the North American Stanley Cup finals on television and noted that the winning team always puts a big emphasis on defence.

“I want the Stampede to take care of our end of the ice first,” he said. “We play from our net out.”

West Auckland Admirals

The West Auckland Admirals recruited well and had a squad that looked capable of winning the Birgel Cup for the first time.

They started the season in style by winning their first seven games. This included big wins against four-time champion Botany Swarm, 14-0, and last year’s runner-up Canterbury Red Devils, 16-2.

The first loss came in the eighth round-robin game when beaten by Southern Stampede 5-3.

They suffered injuries to key players – captain Justin Daigle (eye), Jacob Ratcliffe (ankle), Taylor Rooney (ACL joint) and Dylan Dickson (wrist) – after this and lost five of their last eight round robin games.

The most telling losses were Ratcliffe, who has played in the United States and was one of New Zealand’s rising stars at the World Championship tournaments, and Daigle.

“It was very hard to replace Justin as a player and captain,” coach Csaba Kercso-Magos said. “We had to readjust our lines. We just had to go with the fit players we had.”

The new imports dominated the scoring and played a key role for the Admirals in this year’s New Zealand Ice Hockey League.

Toth (26) has played for three years in the Austrian-based EBEL for Hungarian club Fehervar AV19 and plans to return to DVTK Jegesmedvek Miskolc of the Hungarian league. He has played over 450 games at senior level and brought a lot of energy and knowledge to the Admirals team.

Sweden’s Henric Andersen was third in the scoring leaders table with 44 points. He scored 14 goals and was runner-up on the assist leaders board with 32 assists.

Andersen (26) played for the Swedish under-18 national team and later played in the second-highest league in Sweden and followed this up with three years in the top French league.

American Thomas Battani (28) played professional hockey in North America in the third-tier ECHL. He made his contribution to the Admirals season by finishing fifth on the scoring leaders table with 35 points. He scored 18 goals and had 17 assists.

Canadian Andrew Spiller (30), who now has New Zealand residency, had 19 assists and was fifth on the table. He was a strong defender and topped the defencemen’s scoring table with 24 points.

The talented Admirals squad included nine members of the New Zealand national team, the Ice Blacks, that finished runner-up to China at the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division II Group B in Auckland.

The best performers were Nick Henderson, who was ninth on the goal scoring list with 12 goals, Frazer Ellis who jumped up to nine goals when he scored two in the first final, and Jacob Ratcliffe, who made 12 assists.

Captain Justin Daigle was a strong defender and finished third on the defencemen's scoring list with 17 points before being sidelined with his eye injury.

The Admirals had two top goalies with veteran Ice Blacks defender Rick Parry finishing fifth on the list. He conceded 33 goals and had 234 saves. Goalie Csaba Kercso-Magos junior topped the table with a save percentage of 92.83 percent. He conceded 22 goals and made 277 saves. His father has been head coach for the last three years and has instilled Eastern European discipline into the team.

He was once selected for the Romanian national team in the mid-1970s but did not play because all games were cancelled because of an earthquake.

Kercso-Magos coached Admirals in 2006/07 for one year and came back as an assistant in 2014.

“I didn’t think we had a good enough team to be in the finals last year but this year we did,” he said. “We started our programme three years ago and I have seen an improvement this year. Our squad is larger and competition to get into the team is higher.

“The team now understands my rules and are following them. That is what is making us a strong team.”

Kercso-Magos comes from Romania and likes the European style of hockey. But his understanding of the game has changed since he has been in New Zealand.

“In the last 20 years world hockey has changed and has combined the physical element with being technical and practical as well,” he said. He has also noticed a significant change in the style played in the New Zealand league.

“When I arrived 10 years ago it was only physical,” he said. “It is still physical but you can see some great technical aspects as well. New Zealand ice hockey has come a long way in the last few years.”

Dunedin Thunder

The Dunedin Thunder did Otago provincial counterpart Southern Stampede a favour late in the round-robin programme when it beat the West Auckland Admirals twice in the double header at Auckland.

The Stampede and the Admirals were on level pegging for the top spot and it meant that the Stampede was given the home advantage for the best of three game finals.

The Thunder won the first game 3-2 – its third overtime win – and the next day took control from the start to win 5-1.

The Dunedin-based Thunder performed above its weight when it finished third in the league.

Captain Paris Heyd, who returned this year after 10 months in London, was the only member of the Thunder squad in this year’s Ice Blacks team.

The Thunder also had two members of the New Zealand under-20 team – Felipe Aguirre Landshoeft and Noah Leahy.

New coach Canadian Matt Hladun brought a positive attitude and team unity into the squad.

“There has been a bit of separation in our squad over the last few years but this year everyone was included in the group and on the same page,” Heyd said.

The younger players felt part of the squad, raised their standards, and four of them were rewarded by being named in the Ice Blacks for the first time.

Dylan Devlin, Tristan Darling, Daniel Lee and Kevin Jagau will play against Australia at the New Zealand Winter Games next month.

“We knew we had a young team and knew it would be difficult,” Heyd said. “But as the season went on we became more consistent and stepped up against the better teams.

“Some of the younger guys are now in their late teens and early twenties and displayed the maturity and experience we were looking for.”

The best of the younger players was Daniel Lee, who was the second ranked goalie in the competition with a save percentage of 91.07. He made 408 saves and conceded only 40 goals.

His best performance was against the Stampede at Dunedin when he made 50 saves in the 4-0 win against the league champions. Darling finished 15th on the leagues scoring chart with 17 points. He scored six goals and finished 15th on the chart with eleven assists.

The classy Heyd, the best-performing New Zealand born player in the league, finished sixth on the scoring leader table with 28 points. He was fifth-ranked with 15 goals and had 13 assists.

The best import was Oliver Easton from the United States, who ranked fifth in the table for defencemen scoring leaders with four goals and eight assists for 12 points.

The Thunder finished the season with two away wins against the Admirals and two big home wins against the Canterbury Red Devils 15-2 and 7-1.

Botany Swarm

The retirement of long-time coach Andreas Kaisser after 13 years meant a new start for the Botany Swarm that has been one of the top clubs in the NZIHL. Kaisser took the Botany Swarm to its four Birgel Cup wins from 2007 to 2011. He coached the team for 151 games and holds the New Zealand league record. He also had the most wins with 85.

His replacement was Frenchman Geoff Boehme, who has lived in New Zealand for a decade and was the assistant coach of the Botany Swarm for five years.

“I had big shoes to fill,” Boehme said. “Andreas had his own unique style and achieved a lot of success.”

Boehme uses a practical approach to his job.

“I’ve got to go with what I’ve got in the locker room and the strength and weaknesses of the players,” he said. “My style is to put as much responsibility on the players as I can. They are making the plays on the ice and should be empowered as much as possible.”

Boehme (44) was born in Colmar in the Alsace region of France and played hockey non-stop from the age of six to 18 before becoming a law student in Paris. He played regional hockey in France.

The Botany Swarm won five games, one of these in overtime, and beat all the other teams in the games played on a Sunday afternoon.

The most significant was in its last game when it beat the Admirals 5-4 in overtime. It drew level in the last second of regular time when United States import Alex Mitsionis scored. The winning goal came early in overtime.

Another important win came when the Storm rattled the Stampede’s cage with a 6-3 win at Auckland after losing 1-6 to the Southerners the previous day. It also beat Thunder 5-3.

Botany Swarm had 12 Ice Blacks and two New Zealand under-20 representatives in its squad.

One of the old hands to stand out was KC Ball (42), who made 11 assists and was ranked 14th. Alex Polosov made 10 assists and was ranked 17th. Mitsionis (21), the best performer on the team, was ranked eighth on the scoring table with 24 points. This included 15 goals with a rank of sixth. Another young import was German Maximilian Hadraschek, who scored five goals and was ranked 24th.

Canterbury Red Devils

It was a rebuilding year for the Canterbury Red Devils that had been one of the dominant teams in the New Zealand league for the last five years when it won three Birgel Cups and was runner-up in the previous two years.

“We have had 13 rookies in our squad over the last two years,” head coach Matthew Sandford said. “We lost six players from last year’s squad.”

The key losses were goaltender Michael Coleman and defencemen George Coslett and Josh Greenwood.

Add to that injuries and sickness to key players in this year’s squad. New Zealand under-20 representatives Shaun Brown (19) and Liam Dallimore missed eight games. The experienced Kim Jeong (27) injured his shoulder in a warm-up game and was out for the season.

“Our younger guys had to play more this year. It was a big step up for them,” Sandford said.

Ice Black Chris Eaden finished tenth on the scoring leaders table with 22 points. He scored 13 goals and was eighth on that list.

U.S. import Robert Banks was the best defender and was fourth on the defencemen's scoring stats with five goals and 12 assists. He was ninth in assist points.

Goaltender Damien King from Great Britain conceded 49 goals from 507 attempts and was ranked fourth with a percentage of 90.34.

First final:

The Southern Stampede know how to punish mistakes. They took advantage of the West Auckland Admirals lapses to take control of the first final at Auckland in a six-minute goal scoring blitz.

The Stampede scored two goals in the last 30 seconds of the second period to take the lead 2-1 and added another goal five minutes into period three before winning a tight game 5-3.

Strong defence and a cautious approach by both sides resulted in a scoreless first period.

The momentum was with the Admirals for 10 minutes in the middle of the second period when they applied pressure on the Stampede by using their top two lines. It was only good defence by experienced defenders Bert Haines and Hayden Argyle and goaltender Aston Brookes that kept them out.

Imports Henric Andersen, Adrian Toth and Thomas Battani were looking dangerous inside the blue line. Dale Harrop missed a sitter in front of the goal when the puck bounced over his stick.

The Admirals opened the scoring with five minutes of the spell left when Toth’s angled shot dribbled into the net off the pads of Brookes.

That goal woke up a Stampede team that had been looking lethargic and they came to life to score two goals in the last 30 seconds of the second period to take the initiative and lead 2-1.

Captain Matthew Schneider led by example and evened the score with a penalty and three seconds from the end of the period Canadian import Colin McIntosh sent a miracle pass between two defenders for Tomi Martikainen to score.

The Stampede rammed home their advantage after five minutes in the third period when Schneider scored his second goal to give Stampede a two-goal cushion.

The Stampede concentrated on defence after this and looked to have the game sewn up when Connor Harrison extended the margin to three shots with 5:31 left.

But the Admirals were not finished and peppered the Stampede goal with 15 shots in the third period. Frazer Ellis scored two goals in the last three minutes during power plays. The Stampede added a bonus goal in the last 30 seconds when Kyle Mulder scored after Admirals had pulled their goalie.

The Admirals failed to capitalize on its seven power-play opportunities compared to four by the Stampede.

Both goaltenders had strong games. Brookes conceded three goals and saved 33 and Admirals netminder Csaba Kercso-Magos let in four goals and stopped 30.

League MVP: Matt Schneider (Stampede).]]>on topClubNew Zealandon lefton rightMon, 28 Aug 2017 10:52:00 +0200From Canadian to Kiwihttp://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=11933
KC Ball’s huge contribution to NZIHLBall, a 42-year-old Auckland accountant, grew up in the small British Columbian town of Mission on the west coast of Canada and learnt to skate at the age of two and first played ice hockey at four.

He was an avid watcher of big hockey games on television.

“As a kid growing up I had dreams of playing for Canada. I watched NHL and the big thing then was the Canada Cup (later became World Cup) watching Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Mario Lemieux play against top Russians. It was a big rivalry. I was glued to TV watching international events.

“When the game was over we’d go out and play road hockey and we’d be Gretzky or Lemieux or Messier. That was every kid’s dream in Canada.”

Ball played in the Midget Double A competition in Canada, trialled for some junior B teams but focused more on his university studies.

After graduating from university he decided to travel and landed in the British capital of London for two years. There he met his wife from New Zealand, which was the reason he decided to move to New Zealand in 2004, a year before the New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL) was launched.

He was one of the first imports who have made a huge contribution in lifting the standard and profile of New Zealand ice hockey.

It was a permanent shift for Ball, who married his wife Greer and became a New Zealand citizen. The couple has two children – Chloe (7) who has followed her father on to the ice and Isabelle (3).

“My wife’s a Kiwi and I have lived in New Zealand for 13 years and Auckland is my home town,” Ball said.

Ball has represented New Zealand at two World Championship tournaments and was on the team that won the 2009 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division III on home ice in Dunedin.

“Winning at Dunedin in front of home fans was special. I stopped playing regularly for the Ice Blacks when we had children because going away for weeks at a time was just too difficult.”

Ball has been a key member of Botany Swarm since its inaugural league season in 2005 and is the club’s leading point’s scorer.

He is fourth in the New Zealand Ice Hockey League’s all-time point scorer list and fourth with assists and has the fifth best goal scoring record.

Ball was a key member of the Botany Swarm team that won four Birgel Cups between 2007 and 2011.

He has always been a leader in the team and has played a significant role in the development of younger members of the squad.

Last year Ball followed the Botany Swarm captain Andrew Hay in becoming only the second Swarm player to reach the milestone of 150 league games. He reached 168 games after the Botany Swarm’s home games against the Dunedin Thunder last weekend.

Ball makes no secret of the fact that he would like to win another Birgel Cup with Botany Swarm.

“That’s why I keep playing and wanting to be competitive. I want to win another Birgel Cup,” he said.

“Yeah it is hard at my age. It is a lot of time I need to commit, in summer and winter, to keep fit enough to keep playing at this level. It is virtually 12 months a year to stay in shape.”

He now needs more time to meet his family commitments as well.

“Going away at weekends and leaving my young kids is difficult. My wife and I balance it off. It is a big commitment but I still have a passion for the game, still want to compete and still feel that I’m playing at a competitive level. As long as that continues it’s a commitment I’m happy to continue to make.”

Ball said that the standard of the New Zealand league is now much higher than when it started 13 years ago.

“At the beginning it was focused on the New Zealand players,” he said. “Teams with the best local players won the league.

“We only played six games in the first couple years and didn’t have any money. It was difficult to attract foreign players to come over to play just six games.”

It is different now with a well-established league with a 16-game programme before the finals. The profile of the sport is better and the games can be watched by live stream on the internet.

“It has changed,” Ball said. “Teams that get the best foreign imports win. They provide most of the scoring. Teams that have the best imports end up in finals.

“In early years the imports were not much better than local players so teams that had best local talent won.”

Teams now adopt a more professional approach to the sport.

“The commitment to games is much higher today,” Ball said. “There was no fitness regime in the past. Players have learnt more about fitness and are more dedicated to the task.”

New Zealand players now get more overseas experience in the off-season by playing in leagues in Europe and North America.

“This has improved the local talent and the whole standard has improved,” Ball said.

“Local players are getting better and more committed and a higher standard of foreigners are now coming to New Zealand.”

What made Botany Swarm the most successful team in the New Zealand league from 2007 to 2011?

“It was all about local talent in the early days,” Ball said. “The imports were just support players. We had good young players. Players like Andrew Hay, Richard Idoine, Jordon Challis and Mitchell Oak formed the nucleus of the Ice Blacks and New Zealand under-20 teams.

Ball would not predict how long he will keep playing in the New Zealand league.

“I still have a passion for the game. I grew up in Canada and ice hockey was all I wanted to do,” he said.

He always asks himself three questions at the end of each. season: Am I helping my team to win? Am I still enjoying the sport and having fun? Am I willing to put in the time to keep my fitness where it needs to be?

“If I can say yes to all those things I will keep coming back,” Ball said.

“I take it year by year. Five years ago I wouldn’t have thought I would have played to this point. I take it one year at a time.”

Ball praised the work of Gunther Birgel, Grant Hay and the many others who were founding administrators of the New Zealand league and put so much time into the sport.

“Every region has those people who work behind the scenes and organize the league,” Ball said. “We as players just show up and have fun. They spend so many months each year organizing the league and take care of all travel and accommodation.”

Ball appreciates the work of the volunteers who have contributed in lifting the standard of the league and New Zealand’s standard at international level in the last 10 years.

“We owe a debt to those who had vision to create the league,” he said.

The regular season of the five-team NZIHL continues until 6 August followed by the final. Defending champion Southern Stampede from Queenstown leads the standings three points ahead of the West Auckland Admirals.

ALISTAIR MCMURRAN]]>on topClubNew Zealandon lefton rightMon, 17 Jul 2017 16:15:00 +0200Camp is in sessionhttp://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=11919
HDC aiming to export hockey leadersVIERUMAKI – Set in one of Europe’s premier sports institutes in the heart of Finland, the 2017 IIHF Global Hockey Development Camp kicked off on Saturday a week of ice hockey training sessions and leadership development programs aimed at enhancing the game worldwide.

The result of a large-scale cooperative effort between the IIHF and its member national associations, the Global Hockey Development Camp is currently in its 15th season.

Combining IIHF resources, along with local operational expertise and manpower from the associations, the camp invited 105 participants for the week-long camp which runs from 8-15 July.

The campers, their mentors, coaches, and support staff come from all corners of the globe. In total 54 countries have gathered together in Vierumaki for the HDC, including form countries as far away as Mexico, New Zealand, Thailand, and the Philippines.

“For the IIHF it’s really important that you act as missionaries when you come back to your countries, that you implement what you learned here and share it with your fellow teammates or coaches,” said IIHF Development Committee Chairman Petr Briza in a welcome address to the camp. “We need more players and we need to grow, and I hope you will get the information of you need to continue to build the sport globally.”

Although the HDC is a great opportunity for player from developing hockey nations around the world to experience their first international ice hockey camp, player development is not the primary purpose of the camp. Rather the HDC serves to provide key educational resources and know-how to the various national association staff attending camp.

“Player development is not the main objective of the Camp. The main priority is the development of National Association representatives attending the Leadership Programs,” said Camp Director Aku Nieminen. “We invite players to attend the camp in order to facilitate education for the adult participants through real-life working experience. The know-how gained from the camp is then to be further distributed in each country to ensure player development.”

The choice to hold the HDC in Vierumaki is an easy one. The institute acts as a centralized sports center for the entire country, a place where various Finnish sports athletes regularly come to train. The quality of facilities has placed the Vierumaki Sports institute among the very best, and with hockey being one of the foundational sports that the institute developed from, the HDC is a natural fit.

“We have organized 14 times with the IIHF. This cooperation which has continued for many years has led to great development programs that fit the goals to build up ice hockey in the home countries of these players, as they always leave with good memories and make new friends through the sport,” said Vierumaki Sport Institute CEO Heikki Hietanen.

The model serves as a solid base for demonstrating to the coaches and mentors in attendance good development and teaching strategies which they can learn and bring back with them to their own associations. In a way, the coaches are here to learn just as much as the campers.

The camp emphasizes development projects, aimed at assisting National Associations in their individual growth and development. The following development programs will be in operation during the 2017 Hockey Development Camp:

1. Learn to Play Program

2. MNA Leadership Development Program

3. Team Coach Development

4. Goalkeeper Coach Development

5. Team Manager Development

6. Equipment Manager Development

7. Player Development (male players born 2002)

“The HDC is a key pillar to the overall goal of sustainable growth of ice hockey is a very high priority for the IIHF and therefore recruitment and retention will be emphasized in these programs,” said Nieminen. “We believe that this can be achieved through the delivery of enjoyable and safe experiences for the players, wherever and whenever they are subject to such.”

The Learn to Play Program has been specifically designed to educate instructors on how to plan and operate recruitment events and programs and to introduce the game to children both on and off the ice. As part of the camp activities a Learn to Play program will take place during the week, where instructors will earn on-the-job experience introducing ice hockey to over 60 local children.

The MNA Leadership Development Program provides National Association leadership and personnel the means and ways to evaluate and enhance their domestic programming.

All of the remaining Programs aim at developing National Association Representatives in their areas of expertise. As such, every single Program operated at the Camp aims at delivering better hockey experiences and through such contributes to our objective of growing our game.

The camp program will also be used as a platform to launch the IIHF’s development and education programs, specifically aimed at assisting each National Association to achieve their objectives, leading to global growth and development of the game. The programs will assist each National Association in upgrading and operating quality education programs within their country.

The IIHF National Association Assistance Program will be integrated with the camp program to assist IIHF Members in planning, organizing and operating domestic development programs, which may be eligible for further IIHF resources and subsidies.

The IIHF will allow the National Associations to request specific participation in programs they wish to further educate their people and to create and execute a Domestic Development Plan. This is to allow nations that are willing to develop certain area(s) and to have the opportunity to receive IIHF subsidy for such.

“The member national associations and the mentor groups participating here…those of you who are in a position of influence should take very seriously what we are trying to accomplish,” said Hockey Canada CEO and IIHF Coaching Committee chairman Tom Renney.

“It’s your responsibility to the adult leadership of the game, that you deliver the same level of passion that we want to create here. At the end of the day it’s our responsibility to make sure that we make this week special for all the right reasons. For the athletes you have a responsibility as well, to work hard so you can enjoy this and have the time of your life and make friendships that will last a lifetime, but also identify with hockey as a lifetime sport.”

All players will also take part in a series of IIHF-run presentations covering important topics such as Anti-Doping and Sport and Integrity, along with the usual fun camp activities like swimming, games, and of course, ice hockey.

Finland will play for gold for the third consecutive time after beating Sweden 6-5 in overtime. It was an emotional game that went back and forth with the better ending for the Finns thanks to Sami Markkanen’s overtime goal.

Finland blew a 4-2 lead with Sweden scoring the 5-4 goal with just 5:02 left in regulation time but Teemu Lepaus’ hat trick goal tied the game and Markkanen scored two minutes into the extra period.

“It feels amazing. We’re in the finals against the USA, it’s amazing,” said Lepaus, who also gave the assist to the overtime goal after a lot of puck battles along the boards.

“It was really a lot of battling behind the net. I got the puck and didn’t see the man, it was a really lucky pass.”

The Finns added some extra drama to the game, in which they were outshot 30-25 by the Swedes, after a good beginning. Jimi Palanto opened the scoring after a side pass from Juho Joki-Erkkila at 1:48. Toward the end of the period the Finns even made it 2-0. Lepaus got free on the left side, received the puck and moved it around Swedish goaltender Robert Kinisjarvi.

The Finns continued their scoring ways in the second period. Eemeli Suomi took the puck from Rasmus Dahlberg Karlsson at centre ice and sent Lepaus for a breakaway. With 2:16 left in the period Sweden at least got the 3-1 goal after Markus Kinisjarvi’s shot from the left face-off dot. And that wasn’t all. With nine seconds left before the half-time break the Swedes made it 3-2. Jesper Kokkonen intercepted a pass in the Finnish zone and after a delayed penalty call the Swedes played 5-on-4. Eventually Linus Svedlund hammered a shot from 15 metres with Hampus Larsson being credited for the marker.

Early in the third period the Finns restored the two-goal lead. Suomi scored on a power play at 1:47. But the Swedes battled the way back with another goal at 10:22. After a shot from Svedlund had been blocked, Kokkonen found the net wide open and cut the deficit to 4-3.

The Finns tried to defend and aimed at the 5-3 goal in the fourth period but after a missed opportunity the Swedes had a fast counter-attack. Marcus Lissang sent Dahlberg Karlsson for a one-on-one with Finnish goalie Samu Arisvaara and tied the game. With seven minutes left in regulation time the game between the Nordic rivals was relaunched. And the pucks continued to bounce the Swedish way. After a couple of saved shots during a power play Marus Lissang’s goal brought Sweden the lead. But 65 seconds later the Finns tied the game at five. Petri Partanen took the puck from a Swedish player in the Finns’ offensive zone and passed it to Lepaus, who netted the puck.

A five-minute overtime had to decide about the winner. There were opportunities on both sides but the shot that went in was the one from Markkanen in his 101th national team game.

USA vs. Czech Republic 5-4 (1-2, 0-1, 2-1, 2-0) Highlights

Team USA is going to play for gold on Saturday after beating the Czech Republic 5-4. John Schiavo scored the game-winner with 5:05 left in regulation time in a match that went back and forth. The Czechs lost after a 3-1 half-time lead. The U.S. outshot the Czechs 26-17.

“It felt amazing. I knew it was still five minutes left but it was an amazing pass from Pascalli,” Schiavo said about scoring the game-winning goal. “I got it in front of me and I moved it in and there’s no better feeling than get the lead in such a tight game.”

“[The Czechs] played a great game but we just battled the whole game. Even if we were down we focused, had our passion throughout the game and the work ethic was through the roof, we won the face-offs and that’s a huge key.”

The game started well for Team USA. Shane Fox opened the scoring at 2:46 when he skated through the field of play and sent off a shot from between the face-off circles. That’s when the Czechs started to score and play efficiently in front of the net.

After a shot at the metal, Petr Kafka tied the game at 8:23. Jakub Petruzalek won the face-off and found Kafka alone on the left in the back row, who got the puck and netted it to tie the game at one. And that wasn’t it yet. With 88 seconds left in the opening frame Mikulas Zboril and Jiri Cernoch had an odd-man rush, passed each other the puck and after getting it back Zboril gave the Czechs their first lead of the game.

The score stayed for a while until 7:15 of the second period when American goalie Troy Redmann made a save on a Kafka shot but Patrik Sebek converted the rebound with his shot from several metres to make it a 3-1 lead for the Czechs.

Team USA came out stronger from the half-time intermission and had a metal shot and a good chance with Fox skating to the goal from the right side. Eventually Tyler Spezia broke the spell. After nice passing by his line he succeeded with his shot from the back row at 7:27. Half a minute later Jack Combs after a nice deke let go a shot between to opponents and past Czech goalie Dominik Frodl to tie the game at three. But the Czechs managed to react immediately. Zboril started a forecheck, pushed the disc past an American defenceman and beat Redmann to regain the lead.

36 seconds into the fourth periods it was again Combs who tied the game. After a long horizontal pass from Nielsson Arcibal, Combs converted it for the 4-4 marker.

The next goal was to come but this time it was the Americans who got the lead for the first time since the early minutes of the game. William Pascalli sent a vertical pass to the net to Schiavo, who beat Frodl for the 5-4 goal.

The Czechs tried to react during the last five minutes in regulation time. Patrik Sebek had a good opportunity when nobody managed to stop him but once in front of the net, his shot only hit goalie Redmann. This time the Americans didn’t give away the lead and will play for gold tomorrow night.

Host Slovakia stays in the top division. After beating Croatia 8-4, the Slovaks will finish the 2017 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship in fifth place while Croatia will play the relegation game against Germany tomorrow.

Slovakia was the better team throughout the game and outshot its opponent 25-18.

Jozef Haring laid the foundation with two early goals. During a forecheck he got forgotten in front of the Slovak net at 4:35. Jakub Ruckay sent a diagonal pass to him and Haring converted for the first goal of the game. Two-and-a-half minutes later he made it a two-goal lead. But on a quick forecheck Ivan Jankovic found Domen Vedlin in front, who scored Croatia’s first goal late in the period.

At 2:28 of the second period the Slovaks restored the two-goal lead. After a Croatian giveaway during a forecheck, Juraj Jurik got the puck and had a 2-on-1 with teammate Ruckay, who scored. But Croatia didn’t give up. Fed by Fran Srketic, Matija Milicic concluded a quick forecheck with the 3-2 goal.

Slovakia started on power play after the haft-time break that ended after 33 seconds. Filip Novak sent a long shot with Jurik in front of the net disturbing the netminder. Novak was credited for the goal. Two minutes later Boris Ertel skated with the puck from the own end and his shot from nine metres went in to make it 5-2.

The Slovaks continued to control the game in the last period. Peter Lichanec scored on a power play but Domen Vedlin replied for Croatia. With 89 seconds left Jurik scored another goal with his shot straight to the net to make it 7-3. A Slovak power-play goal from Ruckay followed by Milicic scoring Croatia’s fourth goal lifted the final score to 8-4.

Slovakia's Jozef Haring scored the first two goals in his team's 8-4 win against Croatia. Photo: Jan Sukup

Canada vs. Germany 8-3 (1-0, 3-1, 2-2, 2-0) Highlights

Canada as the applicant to host the next IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship in 2019 didn’t want to get any closer to the relegation threat and beat Germany 8-3. The Canadians dominated the game, were more efficient and outshot Germany 34-17 with goals coming from eight different players.

Josh Foote opened the scoring for Canada at 7:52 of the opening frame. During a German power play he made it single-handedly on a counter-attack. Despite several German players around him he came in shooting positions and put in a wrister.

Germany got another chance on the power play in the second period and made use of it. Marco Deubler managed to get in position alone in front of the net and converted a pass from Sebastian Lachner to tie the game.

Canada reacted with a goal just 28 seconds later. Jonah Renouf skated around Ales Jirik and let go a shot that beat German goalie Sinisa Martinovic for the 2-1 lead. The next German power play created the next goal but this time it was another shorthanded one by Canada. After a German shot had bounced back from the end boards, Chris Rauckman had a breakaway and beat Martinovic for the 3-1 lead. With 1:45 left in the period Canada had another breakaway with two players. Thomas Woods passed to Rauckman, got the puck back in front of the net and made it a three-goal lead for the dethroned champion.

The third period started more hopeful for Germany. After 39 seconds Jirik scored on the power play but just a minute later Canada restored the three-goal lead. After a saved shot Nathan Renouf got the next opportunity in a static German defence and scored his team’s fifth goal. And playing a lengthy 5-on-4 during a delayed penalty call, Bulmer made it 6-2 with a shot from behind the left face-off circle.

Alexander Preibisch got into good shooting position on the left side during a forecheck to give the Germans some hope. Fed by a horizontal pass from Mathias Jeske he cut the deficit to three goals. But Canada defended the lead and extended it with two fourth-period markers from Shaun Furlong and Austin Steger.

Canada was flying around the German net. A clear 8-3 win confirmed the Canadians’ place in the top division. Photo: Jan Sukup

DIVISION I

Semi-Finals

Latvia vs. Australia 3-1 (0-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-1)

Coming into the semi-finals with four wins, Latvia had its toughest challenge with Australia. The team from Down Under outshot Latvia 26-23 but didn’t manage to get onto the scoreboard until the last period.

After a scoreless opening period, Arturs Batraks opened the scoring for Latvia at 2:45 of the second period. Australia made its life difficult with three penalties taken within seven minutes. The third time the Latvians capitalized on it with Sanis Zolmanis’ 2-0 goal at 2:03 of the third period.

Australia started to create more offensive action but struggled in front of Latvian netminder Kristaps Kruze. Eventually Cameron Todd brought Australia on the scoreboard with the 2-1 goal at 4:42 of the fourth period. That gave the Australians over five minutes to battle for the game-tying goal but it didn’t work out. Rustams Begovs sealed the win for the Latvians with his shot into the empty net eight seconds before the end.

After four wins top seed Slovenia faced some adversity in the semi-final clash with Great Britain but ended up winning 7-4 and battling for a return to the top division tomorrow.

Slovenia opened the scoring with a Miha Logar goal after 52 seconds to play. At 10:23 James Archer tied it up but just ten seconds later Miha Brus scored for Slovenia.

It was a pattern that would continue throughout the game. Slovenia was a step ahead but the British always found back into the game. When Ales Fajdiga gave Slovenia a 3-1 lead with his power-play marker at 5:08 of the second period, the British replied with a goal from Nathan Finney and a minute later Sam Jones tied the game at three.

Slovenia found the lead again at 9:45 with a Saso Rajsar goal and in the third period Matevz Erman scored on a man advantage to make it 5-3. The British tried to come back and at 7:32 of the fourth period they eventually succeeded with a goal from Yoshua Yeardley.

Looking for the game-tying goal in the last minutes of regulation time, the British pulled their goalie but didn’t succeed. Jure Sotlar and Miha Logar scored two empty-net goals for Slovenia instead.

Hungary will play for fifth place and direction qualification for the Division I in 2019 against Argentina after coming back from a 3-1 deficit to beat New Zealand 5-3. The Kiwis will have to go back to the regional qualification for 2018.

New Zealand outshot Hungary 27-23 and had a good start into the game until a breakdown in the last period.

Liam Shields opened the scoring for New Zealand at 4:52 but five-and-a-half minutes later Hungary converted the first power play of the game with Vilmos Gallo’s goal.

In the second period New Zealand regained the lead after 56 seconds through Julian Beardman and at 3:53 Jaan Turia made it a 3-1 lead for the Kiwis. Hungary came back within one goal through a power-play marker from Arnold Feil.

After a scoreless third period the Hungarians changed goalies and staged their great comeback with 6-1 shots on goal in the last frame. Feil tied the game at 2:33 and at 7:27 Tamas Lancses scored what would become the game-winning goal. And empty-net goal from Akos Kiss with 27 seconds left in regulation time made it a 5-3 win for Hungary.

Argentina edged Brazil 5-4 in a South American clash and keeps hopes alive to stay in the Division I in tomorrow’s game for fifth place. Brazil finishes the event winless and is relegated to next year’s regional qualification events.

The Argentines outshot Brazil 28-16 but had to battle hard until the end to win against their northern rivals. Rodrigo Irisarri and Sebastian Echevarria each scored a pair of goals for Argentina.

Echevarria opened the scoring at 3:05 but just 40 seconds later Luiz Almeida Filho tied it up. Argentina regained the lead at 8:50 with a goal from Juan MacArdle but Rafael Christiani scored for Brazil in the second period and a goal from Caua Guzman at 9:07 gave Brazil its first lead of the game. Echevarria tied the game at three two minutes before the half-time mark.

Like in previous games Brazil didn’t manage to keep the score for 48 minutes although it remained tight until the end. Irisarri gave Argentina the lead at 2:33 of the third period but 23 seconds into the fourth period Jose Guilardi tied the game at four on a power play.

Irisarri scored again for Argentina five minutes later but this time the lead stayed. Brazil pulled the goalie in the end but didn’t generate enough quality chances to come back again.

After three clear victories in the preliminary round, Team USA had its most narrow game facing winless Germany in the quarter-finals but edged its opponent 4-1.

The game remained close until the Americans scored two goals in the last eight minutes of play. Team USA outshot the Germans 32-18.

The Americans had some good chances in the beginning of the game including one from Matt White but the first period remained scoreless.

39 seconds into the second frame William Pascalli put a great show with his first of two goals. He crossed the centre red line and deked two opponents, Tim Brazda and Christian Poetzel, to get the puck to the crease. John Schiavo missed the puck in front of the goalie but it was deflected by the skate of German player Tobias Brazda.

“I just tried to get it going since Germany played really well. We expected it to be a tough game because they’re a good team,” Pascalli said. “From now on there will only be tough games and the next we can expect to be a close game too.”

The marker gave the Americans confidence but they didn’t capitalize on their chances and the one-goal lead remained until the half-time break.

Germany got stronger in the third period and didn’t allow the Americans that many scoring opportunities anymore. At 2:33 Alexander Duck had a good chance in front of the American net but goaltender Troy Redmann stopped the puck at the line and also made a save when Marco Deubler had the chance to score in front of him a few minutes later.

At 10:46 of the third period it was the Americans’ turn. When Team USA’s third line kept the puck in the German zone for a long time, Shane Fox eventually scored the 2-0 goal with a shot from the left face-off dot that went high past Sinisa Martinovic.

Germany managed to get on the scoreboard in the fourth period. After 15 seconds of power play Daniel Krzikok was left from the crease with the puck and his try with a shot from an acute angle worked out for the 2-1 goal. But instead of working on a comeback, the Germans found themselves two goals behind just one-and-a-half minutes later. Pascalli pretended a backward movement along the left boards, turned to skate towards the net and found himself in shooting position from about nine metres to score his second of the night and make it 3-1.

The Americans defended the lead and with eight seconds left in regulation time Travis Noe appeared in front of Martinovic during a power play and beat the German goalie for the 4-1 goal. Tomorrow they will meet the Czech Republic in the semi-finals.

Team USA celebrates. The quarter-final victory against Germany was the fourth win in the fourth game. Photo: Rene Miko

Top Division: Slovakia vs. Sweden 4-6 (0-1, 1-3, 3-0, 0-2)

After a slow start into the tournament Sweden beat host Slovakia 6-4 to set up a semi-final clash with archrival Finland. Slovakia outshot Sweden 28-24 and came back from a three-goal deficit but Sweden sealed the win with two goals in the last period. Linus Svedlund had two goals and an assist for Sweden, Marcel Holovic scored twice for Slovakia.

Svedlund deflected a Markus Kinisjarvi shot to open the scoring at 8:02. The Slovaks had their chances too but on a counter-attack it was again Svedlund, who scored and gave his team a 2-0 lead 90 seconds into the second period.

“It was a good feeling to score these goals early. We had a pretty good start and came out with patience. Unfortunately we unnecessarily stepped back and let them come back. I was a bit nervous,” Svedlund said.

Rasmus Dahlberg Karlsson with a shot from the left face-off circle made it 3-0 four minutes later but then the Slovaks battled their way back into the game.

Juraj Jurik tried it with a wraparound but found Filip Novak in front of the net who scored Slovakia’s first marker of the game. But the Sweden replied soon. Kinisjarvi skated for a counter-attack along the right boards and beat Vladimir Neumann with a shot into the top-right corner.

After the half-time break Slovakia had its strongest period and scored three unanswered goals. At 5:58 Jakub Ruckay sent a horizontal pass to the left where Marcel Holovic hammered in a slap shot from just behind the face-off circle to make it a two-goal game. With two minutes left in the period Peter Lichanec skated counter-clockwise around the offensive zone, then moved in towards the crease and beat Robert Kinisjarvi on his second attempt. 16 seconds later the Slovaks scored again. After a quick pass from Jozef Haring, Holovic one-timed the puck to tie the game at four.

The fourth period started tied but at 2:30 the Swedes got back the lead in the game with a laser of a shot from 15 metres by Hampus Larsson. Now it was the Slovaks’ turn to come back again but an odd-man rush gave Sweden the 6-4 lead. Svedlund got the puck but didn’t come in shooting position, skated past the goal line left from the crease and passed back to Jesper Kokkonen, who netted the puck.

The Swedes would continue to control the puck well and prevent Slovak chances. However, with 2:37 left Ruckay had the chance to score a shorthanded goal on a breakaway but his shot went wide.

The Slovaks pulled their goaltender for the last two minutes and Novak had a great chance but his close-range shot with 2.3 seconds left to play went wide and the Swedes won 6-4 to set up a rematch with Finland in the semi-finals. In the group stage Sweden lost 6-5 to their neighbours.

“It’s going to be a good game. This time we’ll beat them,” Svedlund said. “We learned from that game that we need to respect them because they’re a good team, but not too much because we’re a good team too.”

Two Swedish forward put pressure on the Slovak net. Photo: Jan Sukup

Top Division: Finland vs. Croatia 11-2 (4-0, 3-1, 1-1, 3-0)

An easy 11-2 victory over winless top-division newcomer Croatia led undefeated Finland to the semi-finals. Eight different players scored for Finland including Teemu Lepaus three goals and Jimi Palanto two.

“Having scored so many goals early was definitely good for us so we didn’t have to play full speed all game long,” Palanto said. “Tomorrow it will be a more important game.”

Finland will play the winner of the Slovakia-Sweden game tomorrow. “It’s hard to say against whom we will play but we will know soon.”

Finnish veteran Sami Markkanen told IIHF.com before his 100th national team game that he hoped Finland would score some early goals to take pressure away the rest of the game. Said and done. Finland had a 3-0 lead after eight minutes en route to routing Croatia with a nine-goal margin.

After a shot from Eemeli Suomi, Croatian goalie Tihomir Filipec made a pad save but Tomi Penttinen scored on the rebound. 47 seconds later Jimi Palanto beat Filipec on his glove side. After that it didn’t take long, 49 seconds, for Janne Laakkonen to score the 3-0 goal on an odd-man rush. The first period ended with Lepaus’ power-play marker with 11.6 seconds left.

At 2:52 of the second period Markkanen made it 5-0 after a long sequence of passing in the offensive zone. Markkanen was honoured before the game with a special jersey remembering all 15 World Championship participations and the number 100 for his 100th World Championship game. Lepaus made it 6-0 just 81 seconds later and Jouni Aalto scored the 7-0 goal.

The Croats had too little to offer and Samu Airasvaara had a strong day in the Finnish net but made space for Niklas Lehti after 18 minutes of play. With 1:46 left before the half-time break Lehti made the save on a breakaway from Matija Milicic but with 51.4 seconds left in the frame Ivan Jankovic brought Croatia on the scoreboard.

Croatia also changed goaltenders for the third period but at 4:25 Lepaus scored his hat trick goal on Mate Tomljenovic. At least the Croats also managed to score another one. Niksa Trstenjak pushed the puck into the Finnish goal with 42.5 seconds left in the third period to make it 8-2.

In the fourth period Palanto scored a power-play goal and Suomi and Petri Partanen added more markers for the 11-2 win.

When the Czechs finished the group stage in second place and got Canada as quarter-final opponent, it didn’t look like a promising sign. But the Czechs simply made the best out of it and eliminated the defending champion from the title race with an 8-2 victory.

The Czechs outshot Canada 32-17. Zdenek Kubica scored a pair of goals to make up for a 2-0 deficit in the second period and Jiri Cernoch also scored two goals. Dominik Frodl had 15 saves.

“The goals were really important but it’s most important that we won as a team,” Zdenek Kubica said. “Canada played great. The difference was that we made the most of our offensive situations.”

In tomorrow’s semi-finals the Czechs will face the winner of the USA-Germany quarter-final game.

“They’re both good teams. We can’t choose and no matter who we get, we just have to play strong and hopefully we will win.”

Both teams had some high-score results in the preliminary round but started cautious today. For most of the first period the score remained scoreless but then Josh Foote got the puck behind the net and passed to Shaun Furlong, who opened the scoring with 47 seconds left. And 27 seconds into the second period the Canadians were cheering again. Brett Bulmer had a good forecheck on the right side and sent a horizontal pass to Brendan Baumgartner, whose shot went in.

52 seconds later the Czechs replied. Jakub Strnad skated a circle in the offensive zone and next to the crease fed Kubica with a short pass, who brought the Czechs on the scoreboard and just one goal behind.

A high-sticking call during a sequence with Canada’s Kade Vilio against Patrik Sebek gave the Czechs the first power play of the game midway the second period. After 15 seconds of the man advantage Kubica scored with a shot from eight metres. And it came even better. Late in the period the Canadians lost the puck in the offensive zone. Mikulas Zboril was fast on the transition and fed Cernoch. His shot on the right side went wide but the puck bounced back from the boards and Cernoch capitalized on his own rebound to give the Czechs their first lead of the game. The video review confirmed that the puck was in before the buzzer for the half-time intermission.

With 1:47 left in the third period a great rush from David Bernad led to another Czech goal. He won a puck battle at the own end, marched through the field of place and scored from the left face-off dot to make it 4-2 for his team.

The Canadians knew they’d have to do more to get back to the game but the Czechs remained dangerous on counter-attacks. One of these they used at 4:13 of the fouth period. Zboril skated through on the left and fed Cernoch on the right side, who shovelled the puck past Canadian goalie Brett Leggat. One minute later they used an odd-man rush with Petr Kafka’s 6-2 goal.

Canada took its time-out but it didn’t help. Two minutes later Jakub Petruzalek converted another odd-man rush with the 7-2 marker after a pass from Kafka and Jan Zahradnicek scored a shorthanded goal into the empty net.

Slovenia also won its fourth game and beat Brazil 14-4 in the quarter-finals. Jure Sotlar scored a hat trick and four Slovenians scored two goals: Gregor Koblar, Mateuz Erman, Ales Fajdiga and Jan Leben. Brazil’s Bruno Gomes also scored a pair of goals.

Brazil tried to give Slovenia a tough battle but that worked only out for the first period. After Koblar’s opening goal for Slovenia, Brazil gained a 2-1 lead with goals from Gomes and Felipe Geraldini scored within a span of 24 seconds in the fourth minute of play.

Slovenia managed the turnover in the same period with goals from Erman and Blaz Tomazevic. Five unanswered goals in the second period gave the Slovenes an 8-2 half-time lead en route to the 14-4 victory.

Latvia continued its winning streak and beat winless New Zealand 12-4 in the quarter-finals. The Latvians outshot the Kiwis 40-18 and held a 4-0 lead after eight minutes of play.

Olafs Aploks, Janis Golubovics, Rudolfs Maslovskis and Gati Sprukts scored in the first period. New Zealand improved in the second and got a goal through Lewis Taiapa but Sprukts’ second marker of the day made it a 5-1 half-time lead for Latvia.

Teams exchanged more goals in the second half of the game but they continued to come lopsided. Taiapa got his second goal for New Zealand. Maslovskis eventually got a hat trick for Latvia. Spruks and Rudolfs Prusis each had a pair of goals.

The win sets up a semi-final game with the other Oceanian team, Australia.

Gatis Sprukts battles for the puck in Latvia's quarter-final game against New Zealand. Photo: Jan Sukup

Division I: Hungary vs. Australia 2-4 (1-1, 0-1, 0-1, 1-1)

After a slow start in the preliminary round last year’s silver medallist Australia shone in the quarter-finals and beat Hungary 4-2. The team from Down Under outshot the Hungarians 39- 33. James Michael made 31 saves for Australia.

Attila Rafaj opened the scoring for Hungary at 5:08 but Brenton Fitzgerald tied the game five minutes later.

The deciding markers came around the half-time mark. Steve Best gave Australia the lead with his marker 15 seconds before the intermission and at 2:05 of the third period Mitchell Henning made it 3-1.

Penalty trouble prevented Hungary from a successful comeback. Sean Jones converted one at 2:37 of the fourth period to give Australia a three-goal lead. Hungary’s Vilmos Gallo scored the last goal of the game with 3:51 left in regulation time for the final score of 4-2.

Great Britain and Argentina delivered each other a tough battle as both aimed at returning to the semi-finals. But that dream only became true for the British, who won the game 5-3.

Argentina outshot the British 33-18 but early success in the game gave Team GB the necessary advantage. Ben Lowe opened the scoring at 2:14 and 18 seconds into the second period Dan Hutchinson made it 2-0 on a power play.

The Argentines tried to battle back. When Herman Insua Shanly brought his team onto the scoreboard, the British replied with Alex Kingston’s goal. But Guido Marcolongo cut the deficit again with a marker four seconds before the intermission and after a scoreless third period, Owen Haiek tied the game at three 78 seconds in the fourth frame.

The game started at zero but the British regained the lead with Nathan Finney’s goal at 6:12. Argentina was looking to tie the score and force overtime but Hutchinson scored into the empty net with three seconds remaining in regulation time to seal his team the win and a semi-final berth. Argentina will move into the placement game and aim at a fifth-place finish and direct qualification for the 2019 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship.

The British players celebrate a goal in their 5-3 quarter-final victory against Argentina. Photo: Jan Sukup

Host Slovakia scored a big win by beating defending champion Canada 9-8 to finish Group A in second place ahead of the quarter-finals. After a strong start the Slovaks defended the lead until the end although it need a high effort since Canada never gave up and outshot Slovakia 43-24.

During two minutes and ten seconds of the game Canada had the lead. After a nice east-west pass through traffic Brett Bulmer was free on the left to score Canada’s opening goal. But a straight shot from 12 metres from Marek Horsky after a drop pass from the goal line tied the game just over two minutes later. At 8:01 it was again Horsky who scored. Tomas Jasko sent a smart pass by the Canadian defence toward the crease, Horsky got the puck and netted it in his second attempt in front of Canadian goaltender Brett Leggat.

“We wanted to win. It was very tight, every game is hard from the 0-0,” Marek said after the game. “We were good in the D-zone but Canada is very strong with the puck. The coach told us our system and we played it throughout the game and had a lot of shots from distance.”

The Canadians tied the game just 23 seconds into the second period but at 2:43 Slovakia was leading again. Marcel Holovic sent a diagonal pass to the crease where Jakub Ruckay tipped it in for the 3-2 goal.

On a power play at 8:58 the Slovaks even made it a two-goal lead against the defending champion. Filip Novak tried it with a shot from just behind the right face-off circle. It was precise and it went in to the joy of the home crowd. And with 1.6 second left before the intermission Tomas Jasko even made it 5-2. With a horizontal pass behind the centre red line, Peter Lichanec sent Jasko for a breakaway that ended with a three-goal lead for the Slovaks.

Canada came back into the game 17 seconds into the third period. Chris Rauckman skated from his own and toward the Slovak goal, around Boris Ertel and sent the puck past Vladimir Neumann. But it just took 36 seconds for Slovakia to react. Ruckay sent a centring pass to Holovic, who didn’t miss this opportunity on the right side of the Canadian net. And Filip Novak made it 7-3 on a rebound after a wraparound attempt from Juraj Jurik.

Schael Higson scored Canada’s fourth goal after a nice pass from Shaun Furlong just 44 seconds later but Slovakia reacted immediately with Patrik Szabo’s 8-4 marker. Alone against two Canadian defencemen, he simply tried it with a shot from the right face-off circle and succeeded. Canadian goalie Leggat left the net making space for Paul Town.

The exchange of goals stopped for a bit until at 8:03 when Kyle Henderson caught Slovak goalie Neumann on his glove side. The game was far from over yet. With 2:03 left in the third period James Isaacs capitalized on a rebound to make it 8-6.

It remained quiet with goals for a couple of minutes as both teams defended well until the Slovaks made it 9-6 on a counter attack. Jurik brought the puck into the Canadian zone, passed to Novak whose shot was blocked and Boris Ertel scored on the rebound. 24 seconds later Canada made it a two-goal game again with a top-shelf shot from Thomas Woods. And one minute later Dave Hammond even made it 9-8 after a pass to the crease from Austin Steger.

The Canadians pulled their goalie for the last minute of the game but the Slovaks defended their net well and while fans were counting down the seconds the players got ready to celebrate a big win.

Top Division: Finland vs. Sweden 6-5 (1-2, 2-0, 2-0, 1-3)

Finland edged archival Sweden 6-5 to win its group and get a quarter-final clash with Croatia. Teemu Lepaus and Petri Partanen each had two goals and one assist. Finland outshot the Swedes 21-14, who failed with their late comeback attempt.

“It was an emotional game as we knew it would be for us Finns as always against Sweden. It turned out okay since we won it,” Finnish defenceman Sami Markkanen said.

In the beginning it looked better for the Swedes. They capitalized on their first power play to score the lead. After passing behind the net the puck went back to Sweden’s last man, Marcus Lissang, who beat Samu Airasvaara with a long shot at 5:15.

Midway the first period Finland managed to stay in the offensive zone, long and with patience, and at 6:07 Partanen had his breakthrough past Adam Rachidi and beat Swedish goalie Robert Kinisjarvi from a close range to tie the game. But with 11 seconds left in the period Linus Svedlund scored on his own rebound during a power play to regain the lead for Sweden.

The game turned into Finland’s favour with four unanswered goals in the next two periods.

Pukka tied the game with a long shot at 8:13 of the second frame. After a missed back pass the defenceman was closest and hit the back of the net with his shot. One minute later the Finnish goal song was played again. Lepaus got in position on the left side and sent off a shot from the face-off circle for Finland’s first lead before the half-time break.

Lepaus scored another one 43 seconds in the third period after a horizontal pass to the centre from Eemeli Suomi to make it 4-2. Lasse Lappalainen added another one at 9:25 with his shot from the left face-off dot after a drop pass from Lepaus.

Sweden got closer early in the fourth period when they pushed the Finns close to their net and Linus Svedlund scored through traffic from the right face-off dot. Partanen restored the three-goal lead at 6:28 with a short-angle shot that went in via the Swedish goaltender. But right after the face-off the Swedes replied. After great forechecking from Rasmus Dahlberg Karlsson he sent off a shot and Alexander Olsson capitalized on the rebound.

With Tomi Penttinen in the penalty box and the goalie pulled, the Swedes played 5-on-3 for the last 70 seconds of play but didn’t earn more than a goal in the last second of the game that was awarded to Markus Kinisjarvi after a video review.

Petri Partanen scored two goals for Finland in the game against Nordic rival Sweden. Photo: Rene Miko

Top Division: Germany vs. Czech Republic 4-6 (1-2, 1-0, 1-1, 1-3)

Like the day before in the shootout loss the Czechs had a game that went back and forth. This time, against Germany, they won it. The Germans tied the game twice and had a 3-2 lead but when Petr Kafka scored the 4-3 goal for the Czechs they didn’t give up the lead anymore and won 6-4.

“It feels good. We played a tough game against Finland yesterday. Today we were the better team and we knew it and said in the locker room that we had to win this game,” Kafka said.

Zdenek Kubica opened the scoring for the Czechs during the first power play of the game at 1:59. After some passing he was in good position from the second row and beat German goalie Sinisa Martinovic high on his stick side.

In the seventh minute the German goalie made a save to prevent Kubica’s second marker and after the face-off the game quickly went to the other direction. Daniel Krzizok skated into the offensive zone from left, then outskated the Czechs diagonally to the right and beat Czech goalie Daniel Huf for the 1-1 goal.

One minute later Kubica eventually got his second marker to regain his team the lead. He skated through until getting in shooting position between the face-off circles and his shot went in after hitting Martinovic in the shoulder area.

Germany captain Steffen Tolzer tied it up at 3:18 of the second period. He shovelled the puck past Kubica in the right face-off circle and beat Huf for the 2-2 goal.

Germany had a good phase of forechecks a few minutes into the third period and at 4:56 Mathias Jeske scored with a great shot into the top-left corner from ten metres to give Germany its first lead of the game. Also this lead wouldn’t last forever. Jakub Strnad entered the German zone at two minutes later and his wrister from the face-off circle went in top-right past Martinovic’s glove.

The next to score were the Czechs in the fourth period. During a man advantage Jakub Petruzalek fed Kafka with a centring pass to make it 4-3. With 4:45 left in regulation time the Czechs scored again. Strnad deked Jeske close to the net and in falling down he managed to shoot the puck past Martinovic.

The Germans reacted just 35 seconds later with Alexander Duck cutting the Czech lead to 5-4. Tolzer lost balance on his forecheck right of the net but sent a drop pass while falling that reached Duck, whose shot went in with two minutes left to chase for the equalizer. But after a blocked shot the Czechs gained puck possession and Kafka sealed the win with his shot into the empty net with 1:39 left in the game.

The Czech players celebrate an early goal against Germany. Photo: Rene Miko

Top Division: Croatia vs. USA 2-8 (2-1, 0-2, 0-4, 0-1)

The Americans, who outshot Croatia 39-9, entered the game as favourite having had two high-score wins before while newcomer Croatia had two high losses. But the Croats wanted to dismiss such predictions.

Borna Silovic gave Croatia the lead after just 53 seconds of play with a long shot on a counter-attack. Like yesterday against Slovakia the Croats surprised in the beginning, but this time even more. At 5:41 Tomislav Cunko received a horizontal pass from Mario Novak and deked Derrick Burnett to score the 2-0 goal for the underdog.

The Americans reacted with the next shift and scored 19 seconds later. Matt White skated through from the left and sent off a shot from the face-off circle that beat Mate Tomljenovic for the 2-1 goal.

The Croatian lead stayed until midway the second period when White did his magic again. He skated again on the left side first past Jan Novotny and then deked Fran Srketic before letting go a shot that tied the game at two.

Jack Combs gave Team USA the lead 68 seconds later. With two passes from White and Burnett the Americans outplayed the Croatian defence and Combs was at a good spot right from the crease to make it 3-2 for the United States.

With 16-6 shots on goal in the first two periods, it was a hard-fought but deserved lead for Team USA heading into the half-time intermission.

“I thought we played well although we had a slow start,” said Nielsson Arcibal. “We were not surprised about how Croatia played. Every team here is a hard test for us.”

In the third period the Croats had the chance to tie the game with Travis Noe in the penalty box but a counter-attack led to an unusual marker for the Americans. White had a rush on the right side but his shot went wide. After bouncing back from the end boards, Arcibal brought the puck back from behind the net and via Croatian goalie Tomljenovic it went in. Two minutes later White’s long shot during a power play went in for the 5-2 goal.

The Croatian resistance seemed to be broken now. Combs and Jalen Krogman scored two more goals late in the period and Noe’s power-play marker late in the fourth period made it 8-2 for Team USA.

Despite the score the fans of the Croatian team were proud of their players and sang for them once the post-game ceremony was over. While Team USA will enter the quarter-finals as top seed of their team, the winless Croats will face the winner of the other group in the quarter-finals.

Team USA's John Schiavo with a scoring chance on Croatian goalie Mate Tomljenovic. Photo: Rene Miko

In their strongest performance so far Great Britain beat Australia 7-1 and finishes its group in second place. Goaltender Miles Finney had a strong game making 28 saves. Great Britain outshot Australia 32-29.

Ben Lowe opened the scoring already after 42 seconds and Dan Hutchinson and Nathan Finney made it a 3-0 first-period lead. The British added three more markers in the second frame, two from Karl Niamatali and one from Alex Kingston.

Lowe scored his second goal of the game in the fourth period and with 5:16 left in regulations time Jayden Ryan scored the consolation goal for Australia, spoiling Miles Finney’s shutout attempt.

Joshua Yeardley, Ben Lowe and Daniel Robertson celebrate a goal for Great Britain in the game against Australia. Photo: Jan Sukup

Division I: Slovenia vs. Argentina 9-3 (3-0, 0-1, 1-1, 5-1)

Top-seed Slovenia won its Division I group after beating Argentina 9-3.

Three unanswered goals in the opening frame from Miha Brus, Gregor Koblar and Ales Fajdiga led the way to win for Slovenia. Argentina tried to battle back with an Owen Haiek goal 55 seconds before the half-time break. Teams exchanged goals in the third period with Mateuz Erman scoring for Slovenia and Gonzalo Beltrami cutting the Slovenian lead to 4-2.

The Slovenes started the last period strong and four unanswered goals within a span of 2:16 paved the way to victory. Seven different players scored for Slovenia including Jure Sotlar and Fajdiga with two markers.

After a good start from Brazil, Latvia rolled to a 13-5 victory to win its group while the Brazilians remain winless. Former KHL player for Dinamo Riga, Rustams Begovs, was the man of the match with six goals including three in the last period.

Latvia got a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from Olafs Aploks and Aleksandrs Galkins but the Brazilians had more scoring chances in that frame and came back. Felipe Geraldini scored just 29 seconds later and at 4:05 of the second period Bruno Gomes tied the game at two.

That’s when the Begovs show started. Four minutes later he scored his first goal on a power play and one minute later 88 Maslovskis made it 4-2 before the half-time mark.

Geraldini scored his second goal to bring Brazil back to a one-goal deficit but that was followed with four unanswered Latvian goals eventually leading to a clear 13-5 win.

Hungary finishes its group in second place after beating New Zealand 7-2. The Hungarians needed a win against the qualifier to reach second place and a potentially easier challenger in the quarter-finals. That task turned out to be easier said than done though.

The Kiwis outshot Hungary in both of the first periods, 7-6, 5-4. But scoring the first lead through Vilmos Gallo, one of the players from the national ice hockey team on the squad, at 9:00 helped the Hungarians.

New Zealand had to chase behind but did so successfully. Three minutes later Sam Kay tied the game.

In the second period Attila Rafaj regained the lead for Hungary but 53 seconds later the New Zealanders tied it up again with a goal from Daniel Garrow. Then Gallo scored his second marker one-and-a-half minutes later to give Hungary a 3-2 lead going into the half-time intermission.

Two more goals from Rafaj in the last 67 seconds of the third period eventually sealed the win for Hungary. David Szappanos and Marton Mach scored two more goals in the fourth period and Liam Shields scored New Zealand’s third goal in the last minute for the final score of 7-3.

What a thriller it was! The Czechs tied a Finnish lead five times to force overtime and eventually a shootout but Finland got the win, 7-6.

Jimi Palanto score two goals for Finland and Jakub Petruzalek was on his way to become the Czechs’ hero with three goals each tying the score but eventually Teemu Lepaus became the hero for Finland with two goals in the shootout including the game-winning goal.

“It’s pretty awesome especially since it’s my first time at the world Championship,” said the 24-year-old forward, who recently got a contract with Ilves Tampere to play in Finland’s top ice hockey league after two years with second-tier team SaPKo.

“I think we were the better team and deserve this win and I hope we will defend better in our next game against Sweden,” he added.

The Czechs outshot Finland 27-21 but the Finns had the better start and despite the 7-6 score never allowed the Czechs to take the lead.

Finland used the first power play of the game to get onto the scoreboard after 57 seconds of play. Palanto was fed left from the goal by Lepaus and converted the pass for the opening goal.

The game then went back and forth with goals in a two-minute interval. Pavel Strycek tied it up for the Czechs but Mikko Pukka netted the puck after a drop pass from behind the net from Ossi Pellinen to give Finland another lead.

Vladimir Kames reacted for the Czechs at 7:33. He skated through along the right boards and then beat Samu Airasvaara with a shot from the face-off dot.

Simo Mertanen brought Finland back in front midway the second frame when he surprised Czech goalie Dominik Frodl with a long shot from behind the face-off circles.

Finland defended the lead well and midway the third period Suomi made it 4-2 on the second a power play expired. After great passing in the Czech zone Palanto concluded the play with his second goal.

The Czechs didn’t give up though and tied the game at four with two goals scored within just over two minutes.

First Petr Kafka cut the Finnish lead to one at 9:16 of the third period. Skating from the red line towards the net, he let go a wrist shot from about eight metres that beat Finnish goalie Airasvaara. And with 34.4 left in the period the Czechs converted a power play to tie the game again. Petruzalek succeeded with his close-range shot from the left side.

The fourth period started at par and remained scoreless. Midway the frame the Finns got good opportunities when first Petruzalek was assessed a penalty for tripping and later Zdenek Kubica sent to the penalty box for charging. That was three minutes of power play and Sami Markkanen eventually scored on a rebound after a long shot from Lasse Lappalainen. But the lead just stayed for 23 seconds when Pavel Strycek fed Petruzalek with a horizontal pass and the latter scored with a top-shelf shot.

With that goal the regulation time was still not over. After patient puck-possession play in the own zone the Finns started a quick forecheck and Petri Partanen fed Juho Joki-Erkkila with a short pass he used for the 6-5 goal with 1:47 left on the clock.

Now the Czechs had to react again and played the last minute on power play and after the 0:20 mark 5-on-3 with the goalie pulled. With 12.1 seconds left on the clock Petruzalek scored his third goal of the game after a pass from Kafka to tie the game at six and force overtime.

During the extra period the teams were more cautious and didn’t allow each other good scoring opportunities making a shootout decision necessary where Lepaus scored the game-winning goal in the fourth round.

After a rough start against the U.S. host Slovakia made it better on Day 2 of the 2017 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship and beat newly-promoted Croatia 7-2.

Juraj Jurik and Patrik Szabo each scored a pair of goals for the Slovaks, who outshot Croatia 26-19.

“It feels good to win. It’s what we wanted and exactly what we said we’d do,” said Slovak goalie Vladimir Neumann. “The beginning was not so good, we were a bit hectic but then we got better and scored our goals.”

Before the Slovaks started the goal galore, it was the Croats’ turn. Domen Vedlin used the whole field of play to skate back on the right side, forecheck on the left, pass through the Slovak defence to the right and beat Neumann to give Croatia its first lead in IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship top division history. That was after 70 seconds of play and the Slovaks used the rest of the game well.

The home team recovered and played like a favourite in this game. Filip Novak used Slovakia’s first power play after half a minute to tie the game at 6:24. When the next Croatian player was sent to the sin bin, the Slovaks scored again after half a minute when Marcel Holovic made it 2-1 at 7:18 and two-and-a-half minutes later Miroslav Kristin extended the lead.

Croatia got its first power play in the second period but once Patrik Szabo returned from the penalty bench he scored the 4-1 goal and 28 seconds later he hit the back of the net again to give his team a four-goal lead going into the half-time intermission.

Croatia changed goaltenders. Mate Tomljenovic was replaced by Tihomir Filipec and the Croats started with a power play but instead of getting new hope with a marker, Juraj Jurik scored a shorthanded goal at 1:33. Seven minutes later he netted the puck again after a pass that came back from behind the net by Boris Ertel.

Vedlin also scored Croatia’s second goal with 2:41 left and during a power play after a horizontal pass behind the face-off circles from Ivan Jankovic.

After the opening day loss Sweden recovered and got its first three points in a 4-2 victory against Germany.

After early goals from Markus Kinisjarvi the Swedes managed to control the game and although both teams exchanged goals later on, Germany never got closer than two goals.

“To get that quick goals is important in inline hockey since you keep the puck longer than in ice hockey,” Kinisjarvi said on his markers.

“We had a little bit more speed than Germany that we used to create chances. We should have scored even more goals. Our goalie Robert [Kinisjarvi] had a strong game too.”

At 3:49 of the opening frame Linus Svedlund send a drop pass towards the crease. Marcus Viitanen forwarded the puck to Kinisjarvi, who opened the scoring. With fine stickhandling and slick skating ten minutes later Kinisjarvi deked Ales Jirik and beat German goalie Daniel Filimonow with a high wrist shot.

Moments later the Germans were cheering after a shot from Mathias Jeske, which hit the goal post. After a video review whether the puck crossed the line or not the officials stayed with the no-goal decision.

At 5:58 of the third period the Swedes extended the lead on a counter-attack. Alexander Olsson got the puck next to the goal and skated around the goalie to beat him for Tre Kronor’s third goal. But two minutes later the Germans finally got on the scoreboard as well. Marco Deubler took Linus Svedlund the puck away in the offensive zone and Christian Potzel scored with a high shot.

But the two-goal difference didn’t stay for long as Hampus Larsson made it 4-1 just 54 seconds later on a rebound.

The 4-2 goal from Tim Brazda in the last period after a nice pass from Sebastian Lachner gave Germany new hope with over six minutes remaining in regulation time but too little happened to put Sweden’s win in jeopardy.

The United States are the inline hockey kings of North America, at least for a few days before the medal games. Team USA beat Canada 8-2 on Day 2 of the 2017 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship.

At the last Inline Hockey Worlds it was the Canadians who won 5-4 in overtime. Canada continued to earn gold while Team USA got ousted in the quarter-finals. This year the Americans were up for revenge and did it with an impressive 8-2 victory against their North American rivals despite being outshot 22-20.

Veteran forward Matt White, who had two goals and an assist, was happy but remained cautious after a game that was rough at times but clear in the score.

“We expect it to be like that every game. With Canada we’re always battling no matter what the score is,” White said. “The score isn’t an indication of how they play. We just capitalized well on our chances.”

The battle of North America started as an emotional affair. Already at the first face-off players did not only exchange words and after 34 seconds of play two penalties were assessed.

While teams were equal in terms of penalty minutes, Team USA opened a gap where it matters most: goals. John Schiavo opened the scoring at 2:06 after a drop pass from William Pascalli and 42 seconds later White slickly skated through the defence to make it 2-0 – a goal that was followed by some roughing between the teams and eight penalties.

Tyler Spezia even gave Team USA a three-goal lead three-and-a-half minutes later but the Canadians managed to cut the deficit before the end of the period when Dave Hammond scored after a centring pass from Brendan Baumgartner.

The Americans got the three-goal lead back in the second frame. Schaivo won a puck battle and Kettler scored from the left face-off circle.

Some minutes later the first full power play took place for Canada when Shane Fox’ stick unintentionally hit Jonah Renouf during an interference infraction but the Canadians didn’t capitalize on it.

After the half-time break it became even worse for the Canadians during their next man advantage. After a blocked shot the Americans reacted fastest and White succeeded on a breakaway with his second goal of the game.

22 seconds into the fourth period the Americans succeeded again. Team Canada goalie Brett Leggat blocked Spezia’s shot but Travis Noe capitalized on the loose puck to make it 6-1 and Peter DiMartino added another marker with a high shot later in the period. Jack Combs made it 8-1 after a rush on the right side from White while Chris Rauckman scored for Canada with 93 seconds remaining for the final score of 8-2.

Team USA players celebrate a goal in their 8-2 romping of Canada. Photo: Rene Miko

Division I: Latvia vs. Australia 6-2 (1-1, 3-0, 0-1, 2-0)

After beating Great Britain, qualifier Latvia got another big win against one of the top-seeded teams by beating Australia 6-2. Latvia outshot the Australians 29-23 and Rustams Begovs had a hat trick.

Arturs Batraks opened the scoring at 6:29 of the first period but Kaden Goulds tied it up four minutes later.

The Latvians made the difference with three unanswered goals in the second period, two from Begovs and one from Gatis Sprukts.

Sean Jones cut the Latvian lead at 5:40 of the third period but Latvia’s Arturs Batraks and Begovs scored two more goals in the last frame to make it a clear win.

Happy Latvian players at the bench after a goal. Photo: Jan Sukup

Division I: Hungary vs. Slovenia 1-8 (0-0, 0-2, 0-3, 1-3)

In its attempt to earn promotion back to the Top Division, Slovenia earned its second high-scoring win on Day 2 by beating Hungary 8-1. Slovenia outshot its neighbours 44-20.

Hungary managed to keep up in the first period but in the second frame Slovenia started to shoot more often. Miha Brus opened the scoring 10 seconds into the second period when a penalty against Hungary had just expired. Four minutes later Saso Rajsar made it 2-0.

The goal machine was running even better after the half-time break. Power-play goals from Ales Fajdiga and Nejc Berlisk as well as a marker at even strength from Miha Logar gave Slovenia a five-goal lead.

In the fourth period Fajdiga became the only player of the game to score two goals. Gregor Koblar and Mateuz Erman also scored in the last period. Akos Kiss scored Hungary’s consolation goal with two minutes left to spoil Tomas Trelc’s shutout attempt.

Scoring chance for Slovenia in the 8-1 victory over Hungary. Photo: Jan Sukup

Division I: Great Britain vs. Brazil 4-2 (1-0, 1-1, 1-1, 1-0)

South America qualifier Brazil gave Great Britain a tough match but the British got their first win after an improved play in the second half of the game.

Ashley Jackson and Ben Lowe gave Great Britain the lead while Felipe Geraldini scored the 2-1 goal for Brazil.

Brazil outshot Great Britain 17-10 in the first half of the game and 25 seconds into the third period Gustavo Tecchio tied the game at two.

That’s when the British became stronger and a pair of goals from Dan Hutchinson eventually made the difference in the 4-2 win.

Argentina got its first victory of the tournament after turning a 3-1 deficit into a 6-4 win against qualifier New Zealand.

The Kiwis gut the 3-1 first-period lead after goals from Lewis Taiapa, Jaan Turia and Paul Jameson. Sebastian Echevarria scored the 1-1 marker for Argentina.

In the second period Argentina tied the game at three with a pair of goals from Sebastian Bustos and in the third Rodrigo Irisarri gave Argentina the lead which his team didn’t give back anymore. Owen Haiek and Agustin Chiaravalloti scored for Argentina and Vincenso Cistrone for New Zealand in the last period.

The Argentine players sing their national anthem after earning their first win. Photo: Jan Sukup

MARTIN MERK]]>InLineinline201703 Canada20 United StatesArgentinaNew ZealandBrazilGreat Britain08 Germany18 SwedenMon, 26 Jun 2017 16:37:00 +0200Czechs edge Swedenhttp://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=11895
Favourites win other games at Inline Hockey WorldsThe tournament continues on Monday. All four games from the main rink will be streamed live on IIHF.com. In addition, Fanseat will stream all eight games including the Division I match-ups from the second rink.

Top Division: Sweden vs. Czech Republic 2-3 (0-0, 2-1, 0-1, 0-1)

In the tightest top-division game of the opening day the Czech Republic edged Sweden 3-2 thanks to Jiri Cernoch’s late game-winner.

For the 20-year-old Sparta Prague centre, who also represented his country on ice in the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship taking home a silver medal, it was his first goal in this first game.

“It felt great to score that goal. It’s my first national team game,” Cernoch said. “It was a hard game because it’s very warm and Sweden played very well. We hung on and had luck but we need to score more often.”

Both teams had chances in a scoreless opening frame but it was the Czechs, who broke the deadlock with their goal at 1:52 of the second period. In a quick attack Petr Kafka set up Jakub Petruzalek, who opened the scoring. But just 69 seconds later the Jesper Kokkonen found the way through a tight Czech defence on the right side and tied it up for Sweden.

In the last minute of the period it came even better for the Swedes. With Czech player Jakub Strnad in the penalty box, the Swedes capitalized on the power play with Linus Svedlund’s deflected shot giving his team the first lead.

The Czechs came back into the game after the half-time break. At 7:12 of the third period they tied the game when Cernoch sent off a shot from the right side that hit the goaltender and Mikulas Zboril capitalized on the rebound.

With 30.5 seconds left in the period the Czechs had the chance to get the lead. A penalty shot was awarded to Kafka when the officials saw a throwing-the-stick infraction of Rasmus Dahlberg Karlsson next to the goal but Kafka’s shot just hit Swedish goalie Robert Kinisjarvi.

But that wasn’t it. At 4:56 of the fourth period Cernoch finished a quick forecheck with the 3-2 goal and game winner when he capitalized on a rebound after a Zboril shot. Tre Kronor just had a few minutes left to tie the game and a penalty for holding against Dahlberg Karlsson didn’t make it any easier. The Czechs, who outshot Sweden 21-10, got the tight win and the first three points.

Top Division: Slovakia vs. USA 1-8 (0-1, 0-4, 1-2, 0-1)

After a disappointing ending of the last tournament Team USA wants to go far this year, very far. In their 8-1 victory against host Slovakia they underlined their golden ambitions.

945 fans came into the warm arena despite the heat wave to support their team but after ten scoreless minutes the Americans started to convert their dominance into goals when Jack Combs had his first of four markers.

“It was a good atmosphere, good fans. We’re happy to get the win since Slovakia is a very good team,” Combs said.

Team USA broke the Slovak resistance in the second period. Travis Noe scored after 57 seconds and one minute later Combs made it 3-0. A power-play goal from Matt White and another marker 24 seconds later from William Pascalli gave Team USA a five-goal lead going into the half-time intermission.

At 3:29 of the third period the home team finally got onto the scoreboard. After a right-side rush from Juraj Jurik the puck came to Peter Lichanec on the left, who made it 5-1.

A counter-attack of the same line brought the Slovaks another great scoring chance. Eventually Lichanec sent off a shot on a rebound. The puck was on its way in via the left post when Team USA goalie Gerald Kuhn blocked it and it looked inconclusive whether it crossed the line or not and the game continued with the 5-1 score – but not for long. Derrick Burnett sent a pass forward to Combs, who scored his hat trick goal being left alone in front of the Slovak net.

Two minutes later John Schiavo converted a power play for the United States’ sixth marker of the game and in the last period and with Slovak goalie Vladimir Neumann replaced by Marian Bohus, Combs scored his fourth goal of the game to lift the final score to 8-1.

Team USA's Jack Combs scores one of his four goals against Slovakia. Photo: Rene Miko

Top Division: Finland vs. Germany 5-2 (0-0, 1-1, 3-0, 1-1)

Last host and silver medallist Finland started with a 5-2 victory against Germany thanks to strong defence and efficient forwards. Three goals in the third period were the difference maker for the Finns.

“THe first two periods were difficult. The first game of the tournament is always tough but our best players succeeded in scoring goals and getting the assists,” said Jouni Aalto.

After a scoreless opening period it was Eemeli Suomi, who at 4:29 brought Suomi the important lead. He got the puck left from the goal and scored high past German netminder Sinisa Martinovic.

With 94 seconds left in the period Germany converted a power play with Alexander Preibisch’s marker to tie the game at one.

Finland found the winning ways after the half-time break. Teemu Lepaus scored at 6:17 of the third period but the Germans fought back. Daniel Krzizok had a good chance in front of the net but was tripped by Petri Partanen. The Germans were already cheering during a power play but the crease was moved and the no-goal decision stayed after a video review.

After killing the penalty, the Finns stroke back with two goals scored within a span of 15 seconds and a goalkeeper change in between by Juho Joki-Erkkila and Matias Kiiskinen. Alexander Duck gave Germany hope concluding a quick attack with the 4-2 goal but a few minutes Simo Mertanen converted a power play for the final score of 5-2 for Finland.

Defending champion Canada opened the 2017 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship with a 6-1 win against Croatia, the promoted team that plays in the top division for the first time. Canada outshot Croatia 25-11.

“The first match of any tournament is a learning experience. Croatia played hard as the newly promoted team, that’s what we were expecting,” Team Canada goalie Brett Leggat said.

“We have some new guys who we met the first time here. It takes some time to learn the strategies but at tournaments like this you have to get better every game. What’s what we want to do and hopefully we will defend the title.”

The Croats had definitely hoped for a better start but veteran Thomas Woods opened the scoring for Canada after already 31 seconds of play. The Canadians continued to have the game under control and created more scoring opportunities. At 6:27 Josh Foote made it 2-0 for Canada and a minute later Schael Higson netted the puck from the right side.

In the second period Croatia started surviving Canada’s first power play and then had a good scoring chance on a counter attack from Niksa Trstenjak, who saw his shot saved by Leggat. But the puck only went in on the other side when Shaun Furlong made it 4-0 midway the second frame. A good chance by Tomislav Cunko on a 2-on-1 made the Croatian fans chanting again but the teams went into the half-time break with a four-goal cushion for Canada.

Croatia regrouped during the intermission and made a goalie change. It worked out with the first goal by Tomislav Cunko early in the third period to cut Canada’s lead to three goals. Late in the third period Croatia had two post shots and then the puck went in with the buzzer on the other side. But the video review showed that Woods’ shot went in after the game time.

Canada continued to dominate and finished the last period with goals from Jonah Renouf and Chris Rauckman to win the game 6-1.

The Canadian players celebrate a goal in their opening-day win against Croatia. Photo: Rene Miko

Division I: Great Britain vs. Latvia 4-7 (0-0, 1-3, 1-1, 2-3)

Last year Latvia was relegated to the qualification tournament. This year the Latvians had a strong start against one of the favourites in Division I play and beat Great Britain 7-4.

Great Britain had the better start. After 3 Hutchinson had missed out on a penalty shot in the first period, Ashley Jackson gave the British the lead after two minutes in the second frame. But Latvia reacted late in the period. Olafs Aploks, Sandis Zolmanis and Aleksandrs Galkins scored three goals in a span of just over two minutes to turn the game before the half-time mark.

The teams exchanged goals in the second half of the game and James Archer’s goal with 4:49 left in regulation time brought GB back within reach cutting the deficit to 4-5 but Latvia reacted with two more goals. 11 different players scored in Latvia’s 7-4 win.

The Latvian players sing their national anthem after winning their first game against Great Britain. Photo: Jan Sukup

Division I: Argentina vs. Hungary 1-6 (0-1, 0-2, 0-1, 1-2)

In the last Inline Hockey World Championship Argentina was the surprise team of the Division I tournament. A 4-3 shootout win against Hungary was the start of a run into the semi-finals.

This time it was a bit different. Although shots on goals were close – 16-13 in Hungary’s favours – it was mostly the Magyars who scored and Akos Kiss who was a difference maker with his hat trick.

At 5:58 Norbert Fekecs opened the scoring for Hungary. In the second Kiss netted the puck for the first time and a few minutes later Attila Orban made it a 3-0 lead. Until the 40th minute Kiss scored another pair of goals to give Hungary a five-goal lead. Sebastian Bustos scored the consolation goal for Argentina and David Szappanos made it 6-1 with a last-minute power-play marker.

Hungary scored six goals against Argentina. Photo: Jan Sukup

Division I: Australia vs. Brazil 7-0 (3-0, 1-0, 1-0, 2-0)

In a clash between two teams from the southern hemisphere Australia played strong against Brazil, which stages its comeback as one of the qualifiers, beating the Brazilians 7-0.

While the Brazilians had their chances too in front of a strong Michael James, it was three goals scored in the first period during four-and-a-half minutes by Adam St Clair, Matthew Anderson and Michael Haynes that pre-decided the game early.

The team from Down Under continued to score goals in each of the other periods. Six different players scored for Australia including St Clair twice.

The Australian players celebrate a goal against Brazil. Photo: Jan Sukup

Division I: Slovenia vs. New Zealand 12-1 (0-1, 2-0, 8-0, 2-0)

Qualifier New Zealand upset Division I top seed Slovenia in start of the tournament’s opening game with Maxim Kalushny opening the scoring for the Kiwis. It was a tight opening frame in which Slovenia outshot the New Zealanders 3-2 and it continued like that in the second stanza with the difference that the Slovenes scored. Gregor Koblar tied it up at 5:24 and five minutes later Ales Fajdiga gave Slovenia a 2-1 lead.

After the half-time break the Slovenes came out on fire. They outshot New Zealand 12-0 and scored five goals in the first three minutes of play. Eventually the favourites celebrated a 12-1 win with hat tricks from Mateuz Erman and Koblar.